Marshall County Kansas Black Squirrel Fall Festival
Marysville keeps a mascot that most towns would never think to choose, and once each autumn the county seat of Marshall County builds a downtown celebration around it. The festival gathered here from the published layers centres on the unveiling of new black squirrel statues, with costumed festivities in the streets and programming that carries the day into the evening. A festival-guide listing prints the name in the full form used in the title above, while local coverage more often shortens it. Two consecutive dated editions, one in two thousand twenty-five and one in two thousand twenty-six, anchor the record, and a travel layer describes the gathering as an event that returns every autumn. What follows keeps every published name form separate and leaves the one open disagreement about statue numbers exactly where the layers leave it.
About the Festival
The name of this celebration arrives in several shapes, and the layers never settle on just one. A festival-guide listing for the October date and the headline of a council-approval report both print “Black Squirrel Fall Festival”. Local news and regional radio coverage, the dominant current sources, prefer “Black Squirrel Fall Fest”. A dance studio’s event post and a travel layer use the shorter “Black Squirrel Fest”. Older layers reach back to “Black Squirrel Day”, “Black Squirrel Night” and “Black Squirrel Festival”. Each form stands as printed, unmerged.
The setting is downtown Marysville, and Marysville is the county seat of Marshall County. The statue unveiling that anchors the recent editions takes place in the seven hundred and eight hundred blocks of Broadway, according to the regional radio layer. More than one organisational name appears as well. Regional radio and local news identify OneMarysville as the organisation behind the project, and they quote its executive director speaking for it. The council-approval report, by contrast, prints the party requesting the festival as “1 Marysville”, a form reproduced here exactly as it appears. Regional radio also credits the Marysville Convention and Tourism committee as the originator of the Squirrels on Parade project, which has since become part of OneMarysville.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
| Published name forms | Black Squirrel Fall Festival, Black Squirrel Fall Fest, Black Squirrel Fest, plus Black Squirrel Day, Black Squirrel Night and Black Squirrel Festival |
| Host town | Marysville, Kansas |
| County seat status | Marysville is the county seat of Marshall County |
| Venue | Downtown Marysville, with the statue unveiling in the seven hundred and eight hundred blocks of Broadway |
| Organiser name forms | OneMarysville, with the council report printing the requester as 1 Marysville |
| Documented editions | Saturday the eighteenth of October two thousand twenty-five, and Saturday the twenty-fourth of October two thousand twenty-six |
| Centrepiece | The unveiling of new fibreglass black squirrel statues for the Squirrels on Parade collection |
| Standing placement | Described by a travel layer as an event that returns every autumn |
| Admission | No layer read states a gate admission for the festival |
History
The squirrel connection in Marysville reaches back well before the current festival form. A history item in the local newspaper states that the black squirrel connection dates to nineteen sixty-nine, and that an ordinance named the black squirrel the city’s official mascot on the sixteenth of October nineteen seventy-two. The ordinance is mentioned in words only here. Regional radio tells a nearby version of the same season, reporting that the city council adopted the black squirrel as mascot in August nineteen seventy-two. The two accounts sit side by side here, because the layers never reconcile the difference between an August adoption and an October ordinance.
The celebration’s own beginnings are framed through the same year. In the council report, the presenter described activities dating back to a first celebration in nineteen seventy-two, and the newspaper history item adds that Black Squirrel Day became part of the tradition. Regional radio quotes the organiser observing that the celebration has changed names over the years, running through Black Squirrel Day, Black Squirrel Night, Black Squirrel Fest and Black Squirrel Fall Fest. That remark explains the cluster of name forms better than any single founding statement could. No cleaner claim about the festival’s founding is adopted here, because the sources offer several partial ones rather than one agreed account.
For a useful comparison, see the Marshall County Kansas Big Blue River Days Festival for another county festival.
One more strand of history belongs to the statues rather than to the festival. The Squirrels on Parade public art project began in twenty fifteen to twenty sixteen, with its first statues unveiled in October twenty sixteen. That beginning belongs to the art project. The festival grew up alongside the project and now serves as the occasion when new statues join the collection, but the project’s start date is not presented as the festival’s founding.
What to Expect
Downtown Marysville supplies the setting, and the day builds around a single moment in the middle of the afternoon. At the two thousand twenty-six edition, local news documents the unveiling of the new Black Squirrels on Parade statues beginning at three in the afternoon, kicking off an afternoon and evening of activities. The statues themselves are fibreglass figures, each one joining a town collection that has been growing since the art project began. The unveiling in that year took place in the seven hundred and eight hundred blocks of Broadway.
How many statues arrived at that unveiling depends on which layer a reader trusts. The local-news article counts nine new statues, while the regional radio statement and further newspaper items count ten, and the town total reaches sixty by the local-news count. This article leaves the disagreement unmerged, since the sources disagree in print and no layer corrects the other. Visitors should simply know that a group of new figures joins the collection each time.
Around the unveiling, the layers describe a familiar programme. The council report names free coffee and donuts as a tradition of the day, and costumed festivities run through the downtown streets. A travel layer adds food, music, games, costume contests and local vendors to the picture. The two thousand twenty-five council-approval report describes that edition as a Saturday celebration running into the evening, with traditional activities joined by expanded evening programming, and local news frames the two thousand twenty-six edition the same way.
Planning Your Visit
Both documented editions fell on a Saturday in the second half of October, so an autumn Saturday downtown is the pattern to plan around. The two thousand twenty-six unveiling began at three in the afternoon, and the two thousand twenty-five report describes programming that ran from the day into the evening, which suggests arriving before the unveiling and staying past it. The traditional activities and the evening programming reward a visitor who gives the day some room.
The cost side of a visit needs care. No layer read states a gate admission for this festival, and no free-entry claim is made for it either, so a visitor should assume neither a ticket price nor a guaranteed free day. Regional radio does print a sponsorship price connected with the statues, but that figure is a sponsor fee for a statue, a charge paid by whoever sponsors a figure, and it is never an admission price for attending. Food and vendor purchases remain the ordinary costs of a downtown festival day, and the coffee and donuts are described as free in the council report.
Because the record names more than one organiser form and more than one festival name, checking the wording of a current listing matters. Searching under the shorter Fall Fest form surfaces most recent coverage. Council approvals and local news previews carried the practical details for both documented editions.
A Sample Day Downtown
A visitor following the shape of the two thousand twenty-six edition might reach downtown Marysville in the early afternoon, while the traditional activities are already under way and the costumed festivities are moving through the streets. The free coffee and donuts named in the council report suit that first hour, along with a slow pass along Broadway to see the statues from earlier years.
At three in the afternoon, the unveiling takes over. The crowd gathers in the seven hundred and eight hundred blocks of Broadway as the new fibreglass statues are revealed, and the size of the incoming group, nine by one count and ten by another, becomes part of the conversation on the pavement. After the reveal, the travel layer’s programme of food, music, games, costume contests and local vendors fills the rest of the afternoon. As the light fades, the expanded evening programming described in the council report carries the celebration onward, and a visitor who stays for it sees the edition the way the two thousand twenty-five report frames it, as a Saturday that runs into the evening.
How the Festival Compares
The closest comparisons for this festival sit inside its own name history. Black Squirrel Day and Black Squirrel Night belong to earlier decades of the same Marysville tradition, and the organiser’s remark about changing names ties them to the Fall Fest form used today. Treating those older names as separate rival festivals would misread the record; the layers present them as earlier shapes of one continuing celebration.
Two other events deserve a clear fence. A celebration called “Merrysville for the Holidays” belongs to a different Marysville, in Washington, and nothing from that event is imported here. Closer to home, city minutes name a ladies’ night retail crawl called “Squirrels Just Wanna Have Fun” in Marysville itself, and that crawl is a separate event from the fall festival despite sharing the squirrel theme. The festival also stands apart from the Squirrels on Parade art project itself, whose history is set out above: the project supplies the statues, while the festival is the autumn occasion on which the new ones are unveiled.
Checklist for the Day
- Confirm the date against a current council report or local news preview before travelling
- Search listings under both the Fall Festival and Fall Fest name forms
- Arrive downtown before three in the afternoon to be in place for the unveiling
- Head for the seven hundred and eight hundred blocks of Broadway for the statue reveal
- Allow time after the unveiling for food, music, games and vendors
- Stay into the evening for the expanded programming
- Treat any quoted statue sponsorship figure as a sponsor fee, never an entry price
- Walk Broadway afterwards to spot statues from earlier years of the collection
Beyond the Unveiling Blocks
The festival lasts a day, but the collection it feeds stays on the street all year. Squirrels on Parade began placing fibreglass black squirrel statues in October twenty sixteen, and the town total reached sixty by the local-news count at the two thousand twenty-six unveiling. A visitor with time beyond the festival programme can treat downtown as an informal gallery, looking for figures from earlier years of the project while the newest additions draw the crowds. The Marysville Convention and Tourism committee originated the project before it became part of OneMarysville, a reminder that the statues were always meant as a standing attraction for the town, with the festival serving as their annual moment of arrival.
Why the Black Squirrel Matters to Marysville
Few towns hand their identity to an animal as completely as Marysville has. The black squirrel became the city’s official mascot in nineteen seventy-two, by the accounts the layers give, and the celebration of it reaches back to a first gathering in that same year by the council presenter’s account. The mascot ordinances and adoptions of nineteen seventy-two, the run of changing festival names, the art project of the twenty tens and the council approvals of the twenty twenties belong to one long local habit of organising civic pride around the squirrel. A festival that unveils new statues each autumn keeps that habit visible, adding fresh figures to the streets while the coffee, donuts and costumed festivities repeat the familiar parts of the day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which name should a visitor search for before travelling?
Both the full form, Black Squirrel Fall Festival, and the shorter Black Squirrel Fall Fest appear in print, and recent coverage leans toward the shorter one. Checking both forms, along with council reports and local news previews, gives the fullest picture of a coming edition.
How many statues joined the collection at the most recent unveiling?
The layers disagree, and this article leaves the disagreement open. Local news counts nine new statues at the two thousand twenty-six unveiling, while regional radio and further newspaper items count ten, with the town total reaching sixty by the local-news count.
Is there a charge for joining the downtown celebration?
No layer read states a gate admission, and no free-entry claim is made either. The only price the layers attach to the event is a sponsorship fee for a statue, which is a sponsor’s charge and never an admission price, while the coffee and donuts named as a tradition are described as free.
What fills the hours around the statue unveiling?
The council report names traditional activities and expanded evening programming, the unveiling itself begins at three in the afternoon in the two thousand twenty-six edition, and a travel layer adds food, music, games, costume contests and local vendors around the costumed festivities downtown.
What to Expect From the Next Marshall County Kansas Black Squirrel Fall Festival
How often is Marshall County Kansas Black Squirrel Fall Festival held?
The documented editions fall in consecutive autumns, two thousand twenty-five and two thousand twenty-six, and a travel layer describes the gathering as an event that returns every autumn. The pattern in the record is a single autumn edition each year, held on a Saturday in October.
When is the next Marshall County Kansas Black Squirrel Fall Festival?
No layer read announces a specific date for the edition after two thousand twenty-six. Following the documented pattern, the next gathering would be expected on an October Saturday, with the council approval and local news preview carrying the confirmed date closer to the time.
Will the dates change?
The exact Saturday already moves within October: the two thousand twenty-five edition fell on the eighteenth, and the two thousand twenty-six edition on the twenty-fourth. A future edition could land on a different October Saturday again, so the confirmed date should always come from the current council report or local coverage.
Closing Thoughts
Marysville’s fall festival is, at heart, a town showing itself its own mascot in new forms. The record is honest about its untidiness: several names, two organiser forms, and a statue count that two sets of layers report differently. None of that weakens the picture. Two consecutive October editions, a growing collection of fibreglass squirrels on Broadway, and a tradition of coffee, donuts and costumed streets give the celebration a clear shape, and the next unveiling will add its own figures, however many the counters finally agree on.
