By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Three nights of live music with only one cover charge. That's one of the appeals of Ellinwood's After Harvest Festival. The 51st annual event is scheduled for July 18-20. AHF Chairperson Nancy Baird said Kendall and Mia Kaufman with Aces & Eights will headline the Saturday night dance on the brick streets of downtown Ellinwood.
"We've had Kendall and Mia here before," Baird said. "They were with Second Nature. They just love to come to this area. Kendall grew up in this area and just loves it. They always draw such an energizing crowd."
The band, which specializes in high-energy dance songs and sing-along tunes from the 1980s, and genres like classic and southern rock, contemporary pop music, and country music, also features Great Bend's Elly Somers on vocals and Colin Hammeke on bass. There will be a $10, cash-only cover charge for the Saturday night event.
Kansas Sidewinders MC will again provide the beer garden Saturday night. They also provide Friday's musical entertainment with no cover charge. This year's talent will be country band Steel Scarecrow, who performed at Fridays on Forest in Great Bend last October. That event will also be held in downtown Ellinwood.
"We're going to be back downtown," Baird said. "That was just a fun energy last year that we had down there. I like it because I feel like everybody is a little closer together. We just got wonderful feedback of having everything downtown so we're going to stick with that again this year."
Thursday night, Hays-based Tim Anthony and the Animals will perform at American Legion Post 320 in Ellinwood from 9 p.m. to midnight. The rock and variety band kicked off this year's Fridays on Forest in Great Bend in April.