Official Visitors Guide El Dorado, KS

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SomeTlhing entertaining

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fun l wild

El Dorado has its own brand of unique, first class happenings Every small town hosts their own unique events, each reflecting the personalities and history of that particular locale. El Dorado’s collage of events is an interesting mix of prairie, art, and entertaining/fun/wild events. During the summer and fall in the Flint Hills, take the opportunity to absorb yourself in the essence of the prairie! Summer brings the Frontier Western Celebration, organized and produced by the El Dorado Main Street Organization. For four days in August, festival goers may hearken back to the days when cowboys ruled the prairie and roping and riding were life skills. Contests in bull riding, barrel racing, shooting, and even cooking barbeque determine who the best modern day cowboys are. Live country music concerts headline Friday and Saturday nights, and one may atone for any misdeeds on Sunday morning at Cowboy Church.

For all things El Dorado visit

The first crisp fall breeze means that the pumpkins at Walters’ Pumpkin Patch, 10 miles north of El Dorado, are ready for picking! Bundle the family into the car, get out into the Kansas countryside where you can walk the

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pumpkin fields and choose your own potential jack-olanterns. That chore done, reward yourself with a sloppy joe from the pumpkin pantry, and then a turn on the paddle boats, a bounce on the jumping pillow and a journey through the corn maze. There is so much to do that one hardly ever has to wait in line, even though 25,000 people find their way to Walters’ every fall. Entertaining, fun, and a bit wild every day from the third weekend in September through Halloween. Experiences do not get more authentic than those at the Iron Horse Concert Hall behind Circle Gallery on South Main in El Dorado. Each Saturday from the fourth Saturday in September to the first Saturday in May, proprietor Don Koke offers an interesting schedule of diverse musicians playing live folk, blues, country and Celtic music in a very intimate setting. From the painted guitars hanging on the exposed brick walls to the original artwork on display in Circle Gallery to the fresh popcorn and beer, the Iron Horse is uniquely El Dorado. An overview of El Dorado events would be incomplete without mentioning that El Dorado is host to two national championship sports programs. The Butler Community College Grizzlies football team has won six national championships, five of them between 1998 and 2008. The list of Butler players going on to Division I schools and then to professional teams is long and impressive. Big time football in a small town. Another El Dorado team with national championship history is the El Dorado Broncos baseball team, a college summer team. The Broncos have won the National Baseball Congress World Series five times between 1989 and 2009. Their list of players to make it to the pros is also impressive, so if you attend their games, you may be watching a future pro.


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