Kate Mays
Kate Mays
Community Events
1 min. read

Old Settlers in Olathe draws large crowds for 128th edition

The annual festival celebrates Olathe and its history with live entertainment, food and drink and activities for the whole family.

The annual Johnson County Old Settlers Day in downtown Olathe festival featured a carnival. Photo credit Kate Mays.

This weekend marked the 128th annual Old Settlers Day festival — a three-day event in downtown Olathe featuring live music, a carnival and a parade. This year’s theme was “Let Freedom Ring: Celebrating 250 years.”

Old Settlers Day started in 1898 as a celebration of the community and its history and has __ (almost) every September since.

See photos from this year’s festivities.

Visitors surveyed the dozens of food options at this years Old Settlers Day. Photo credit Kate Mays.
Vendor Cosmic Dyes sold tie-dye. Photo credit Kate Mays.
Essential Henna gave patrons henna tattoos. Photo credit Kate Mays.
A man showed off his Grange Pup shirt. The Grange Pup, basically a deep-fried corndog, is an Old Settlers Day tradition. Photo credit Kate Mays.
Hot dogs were also a popular choice at Old Settlers Day. Photo credit Kate Mays.
Two boys got their picture drawn by Keepsake Caricatures. Photo credit Kate Mays.
Old Settlers Day had many games and carnival rides. Photo credit Kate Mays.
The ferris wheel at the carnival. Photo credit Kate Mays.

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About the author

Kate Mays
Kate Mays

Hi! I’m Kate Mays, and I cover Olathe for the Johnson County Post.

I grew up in Lenexa and graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest. I earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas where I produced podcasts for 90.7 KJHK. I went on to get a master’s in journalism from New York University. Before joining the Post, I interned for the Kansas City Business Journal and KCUR and produced an investigative, true-crime podcast.

Have a story idea or a comment about our coverage you’d like to share? Email me at [email protected].

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