Amelia Earhart Festival Honors Kansas Aviator

Birthplace of Amelia Earhart
Photo by Charles Pannell

Salted to run on July 14-15, 2006, the 10th annual Amelia Earhart Festival celebrates Atchison’s most famous daughter, and offers festival-goers a weekend filled with fun, food and entertainment. This yearly event is held on the weekend closest to Amelia’s birthday (July 24), in the small Kansas town where she was born.

Highlights of the festival include a Friday evening concert, a downtown arts fair, live entertainment, lots of food and plenty of activities for kids. For the more academic minded attendees, there will be a discussion about Amelia presented by a panel of authors and researchers, and a speakers symposium featuring women of achievement. Aaerobatic performances and a spectacular fireworks display over the Missouri River will top off this fun-filled weekend.

For more information about the Amelia Earhart Festival call (913) 367-2427 or e-mail aefestival@atchisonkansas.net.

Atchison is located on the banks of the Missouri River, just 57 miles northwest of Kansas City. The downtown area features good access with wide level sidewalks and an old fashioned outdoor pedestrian mall. Amelia Earhart’s childhood home is open to the public, and although it is a historic structure there is ramp access to the entrance and good pathway access to most of the first-floor rooms. For more information about tourist attractions in Atchison, visit www.atchisonkansas.net.

Kansas is filled with lots of small towns like Atchison, many of which offer excellent access. For more information about accessible lodging, tourist attractions and scenic drives throughout the Sunflower site, consult the Summer 2006 issue of Emerging Horizons.