I had a very limited Pufferbilly Days experience this year. It was 95% tied to the Photo Contest. The other 5% was meeting Willy and Jesse downtown on Friday night for FNSC. I did next to nothing for Pufferbilly Days on Saturday. Iowa State had an 11 AM home game, so I was in Ames by 8 AM to get my Fast Pass, watch the pep rally, and watch the Step Show.
Then after the game I raced back to Boone to tear down the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest displays. Load them into a box truck and take the box truck out to McHose Park to sit overnight. I fully intended to go up to Pufferbilly Days on Saturday night to enjoy the music. It sounded like the two bands that played were terrific, but I got home, sat on my couch. Fell asleep. 6 AM in the morning came around plenty early. I picked Jesse up and we were at McHose Park unloading the box truck and setting up the Shelter House with the photo display shortly after 7.
I was at the Shelter House with Jesse from then until about 4 PM. Watching the photo display and listening to the really good music acts that played at Art in the Park this year. That was my Pufferbilly Days experience this year. No parade with the Boone First United Methodist Church crew. None of the various contests that go on during Saturday like racing rail cars or the mullet competition. Just Art in the Park.
Therefore, this collection and the one I will share next Saturday will represent all my Pufferbilly Days pictures this year.
As far as I know they haven’t announced the dates for Pufferbilly Days for 2027. If it follows the dates for the last 3 years, my best guess is it will be September 17-20. I’m hoping Iowa State has a bye week or a road game so I can experience more of Pufferbilly Days next year. We will find out soon.
Gaze upon the first collection of Art in the Park images:
As random and scattershot as setting up the displays in 8 downtown businesses, I really like how the displays set up at Art in the Park.
Next year I need to bring some boxes or shelfs of some kind so that the back row of images on tables can be more visible.
And the photo display was finally INSIDE the Shelter House. Where it belongs. Hopefully this wasn’t a one-off. Hopefully this is the new standard.
This is the 4th year displaying the Photo Contest at Art in the Park. The 1st Year they set us up in the middle of the vendors.
There didn’t have a way to display the pictures and they didn’t provide us any tents. It was basically, “You figure it out.”
It was a complete disaster. It absolutely poured rain the entire day. More than a few pictures got wet.
The 2nd year we were on the south side of the Shelter House under the awning. This was a big time improvement.
Last year we were on the north side of the Shelter House under the awning. This was because the barbecue contest returned and they setup on the south side. Which is where the barbecue contest has to be. But… they didn’t need ALL of the inside of the Shelter House.
This year, there was no barbecue contest to contend with. I asked for the inside of the Shelter House. I got the inside of the Shelter House.
What will happen next year? I think the barbecue contest will return, but the belief that the barbecue contest “needs all the inside of the shelter house” I think is no longer held.
The first musician was Evan Pratt from Fort Dodge. He was fantastic! I would gladly go listen to him again!
I didn’t actually wander Art in the Park much this year. Mostly because the music outside our door was just too good.
Another thing for next year’s displays, I want to get the TEEN entries split back off from the ADULT entries on the displays. And I should have enough grid walls next year to do that. The unknown variable is how many pictures are entered in the TEEN age division.
Next to judging night and that the Photo Contest didn’t die, my favorite thing about the contest is watching people interact with the photography.
This kid works at Taco Tico! Fort Dodge royalty!
Another thing I hope for next year… I hope I can get back to a Pufferbilly Days themed ribbon!
One of the vendors just RIPPED up McHose Park. That was not us!
After the other 3 things I mentioned as being my favorite parts of running the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest, the next thing on my list is getting to meet and interact with the photographers that entered the contest. That is definitely one of my great joys.
Next Saturday I will share the rest of my Art in the Park pictures and that will put a very quick bow on my 2026 Pufferbilly Days experience!