You Won't Want To Miss This Unique Annual Show That's So Perfectly Nebraska
By Delana Lefevers|Published July 08, 2017
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Delana Lefevers
Author
As a lifelong Nebraskan, Delana loves discovering the many hidden treasures of her state. She has worked as a writer and editor since 2007. Delana's work has been featured on more than a dozen websites and in Nebraska Life Magazine.
We sure do love a good party here in Nebraska, and there’s one in particular that’s just so perfectly Nebraskan it will put a smile on your face all weekend. It’s happening right now, July 7-9, in Wayne.
Wayne, located in Northeast Nebraska, hosts one of Nebraska's wackiest summer events. The town of 5,600 swells in numbers the second weekend of every July.
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The Chicken Show has been a Wayne institution since 1981. It was founded by the Wayne Regional Arts Council. The chicken was chosen as the focus of the event because everyone is familiar with chickens, there are lots of arts and crafts ideas that can incorporate the birds...and chickens are just inherently funny.
Festivities kick off on Friday with a downtown festival called Henoween. There's a flea market and sidewalk sale, free crafts, wine tasting, ice cream social, and wing eating contest. The day's events include the World's Largest Chicken Dance, which is quite the sight to behold.
The cement chicken auction also happens on Friday night. Attendees bid on chickens that have been decorated by Wayne citizens in some of the wildest, wackiest, silliest, and most impressive designs. After the sun goes down, fireworks light up the sky.
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Saturday morning the party gets started early with a 5K Chicken Fun Run, omelet feed, and one of everyone's favorite events: the Wayne Chicken Show Parade at 9:30.
The party slows down a little on Sunday, but there's still plenty to do all day. Watch a car show, visit the souvenir table for some fun "Clucktibles," and see the Truckin' Through Nebraska Children's Museum Active Display at the Wayne State College Campus.
(Pictured above: the World's Largest Chicken Dance.)
The entire town (and then some!) turns out to celebrate everything chicken on this special weekend. Events take place from one end of Wayne to the other. It's such a popular, kooky event that it was named #4 on TripAdvisor's list of "America's Top 10 Wackiest Summer Events" in 2010.
The Wayne Chicken Show is going on right now in Wayne, so get over there for a goofy fun time that’s unlike anything else you’ll find in Nebraska – or maybe anywhere else!
