Festivals
A number of annual events celebrating the state's ethnic and historical heritage take place around the state, such as Days of '76 in Deadwood, Czech Days in Tabor, the annual St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo festivities in Sioux Falls, and Riverboat Days in Yankton. Many pow wows are held yearly throughout the state, and Custer State Park's Buffalo Roundup, in which volunteers on horseback gather the park's herd of around 1,500 bison, is a popular annual event.
Annual arts and crafts festivals include the Brookings Summer Arts Festival and the Sidewalk Arts Festival in downtown Sioux Falls.
In the annual Crazy Horse Volksmarch near Custer, nearly 15,000 hikers complete a 6.2 miles (10.0 km) hike that nears the top of the Crazy Horse Memorial.
Many counties and towns in the state hold annual fairs. The Sioux Empire Fair, in Sioux Falls, is the largest fair in the state, with an annual attendance of over 250,000. The South Dakota State Fair is another large annual event; it is held in Huron at the end of the summer.
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is an annual event in Sturgis. In 2006, the rally was attended by 450,000 people.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of South Dakota
Famous quotes containing the word festivals:
“This is certainly not the place for a discourse about what festivals are for. Discussions on this theme were plentiful during that phase of preparation and on the whole were fruitless. My experience is that discussion is fruitless. What sets forth and demonstrates is the sight of events in action, is living through these events and understanding them.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)