Abbotsford First City Days rumbles back into Red Arrow Park

The 18th annual Abbotsford First City Days will be held at Red Arrow Park on August 11 - 13. The event will have events centered around cars, snowmobiles, tractors, ATVs, motorcycles and more with a few twists this year.

Weekend events

The First City Days celebration brings out the gearhead in everyone as some of Wisconsin’s best and most creative mechanical minds will be on display.

All weekend, a soft drink, water and beer stand will complement food stands for spectators. There will also be music playing throughout the weekend as the Strat Cats will perform on Friday night from 6 - 10 p.m. New this year will be Smoke Wagon who will perform from 6 - 10 p.m. on Saturday night. Finally, Rowdy Boys DJ will take over with music all day on Sunday.

Also available all weekend are craft vendors, various Abbotsford-centric club tents, bouncy houses and kids games.

Friday’s events will include an antique tractor pull that will take place on West Hemlock Street in front of the park. The event will begin with registration at 4 p.m. and pulls starting at 6 p.m. A spectator viewing area will be available with bleachers.

Saturday kicks off with a vintage snowmobile show and snowmobile swap meet starting at 8 a.m. Registration will run until 1 p.m. and voting will end at 2 p.m. Trophies for first and second place in a myriad of categories will be judged with trophies awarded at 3 p.m.

The Saturday event will be accompanied by a lawn tractor and ATV pull with registration beginning at noon and the pulls starting at 1 p.m. Goody bags, dash plaques and door prizes will be given away during the day on Saturday.

To round out Saturday, everyone is welcome to join the car cruise which begins at 6 p.m. Registration for the event will begin at 5 p.m. with an award for the best cruiser. Registration for the car cruise will consist of a nonperishable food item that will be donated, along with a matching donation from event organizers Dean and Brenda Wiese to a local food pantry.

Both Saturday and Sunday mornings, breakfast will be served from 7 - 10:30 a.m. and a petting zoo will be on display for children from noon to 4 p.m.

Red Arrow Park will be the host of church in the park on Sunday at 9 a.m. Beginning at 8 a.m. registration for the car, truck, tractor and motorcycle show will take place with voting ending at 2 p.m. and trophies being awarded at 3 p.m.

On top of the nearly 30 different categories of vehicle awards at the car show, the 150th vehicle to be registered into the show will receive a special prize to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Abbotsford.

Over $1,400 in trophies and awards will be dished out over the course of the weekend. Around 50 categories will be judged and awarded during the snowmobile and car shows on Saturday and Sunday.

Parking changes

Due to the south parking lot of the Abbotsford High School being redone recently, the tractor pull and ATV pull pit area will be stationed down West Hemlock Street, west of the FEMA building addition and in the elementary school and softball field parking lots. Pullers should look for signs and/ or event personnel when looking to park in the pits.

Regular vehicles may park in the south parking lot of the school but no large equipment will be allowed in the parking lot. Additional parking for spectators can be accessed in the school’s north parking lot or on the street east of North Fourth Street.

If pullers, showers or spectators have any questions about the weekend, they can contact Dean at 715-721-6881 or Brenda at 715-613-6094.