The Small-Town One Of A Kind Festival You Won’t Find Anywhere But Kansas

There are a lot of great annual small-town festivals in Kansas. One of our favorites is a fun celebration centered around the World's Largest Ball of Twine. Surprisingly, this is a hotly-contested title, with several balls of twine throughout the country claiming to be the largest in various categories. The one in Cawker City is officially the largest ball of twine built by a community. Each summer, the ball gets even larger when Twine-O-Thon in Cawker City rolls around. This yearly picnic and celebration is one of the town's biggest events. Check it out:

Cawker City's main claim to fame is its status as the home of the World's Largest Ball of Twine. There's a guestbook where you can record your name for posterity, and you can even purchase sisal twine from a nearby gift shop and add to the ball yourself.

Frank Stoeber created this ball of twine in 1953 and continued to add to it until his death in 1974. Now locals and visitors continue his project and celebrate it!

Come to the city's annual picnic and Twine-o-thon, where the whole community gets together to add to the gargantuan ball. This event will take place Friday, August 16, 2024 - Saturday, August 17, 2024.

The festival is a weekend-long affair with tons of family events, including carnival games, a golf cart poker run, live music, a 5K race, a pig-kissing contest, and more. The pie-eating contest is always a hit as well.

Local businesses will also have food stands with barbecue, plus tasty fair foods like popcorn, funnel cakes, and snow cones. Yum!

This small-town festival in Kansas is such a blast and a great reminder of how charming and simple things used to be before the internet took over our lives.

Have you been to the Cawker City twine-a-thon? What was your favorite part of the event? Please leave your best tips for properly adding to the ball of twine in the comments for future attendees! We always love to hear from you. If you're road-tripping to this unique place, check out the Best Road Trip Snacks: 50 On-The-Go Food Ideas so you will be well-stocked the whole way there and back.