Canton Friendship Festival Kicks Off Tonight In Canton

(Canton, IL) -- The annual Canton Friendship Festival will kick off tonight on the festival grounds located on the eastside of Canton along Illinois Route 9. Dan Kumer, the President of the Canton Friendship Festival Committee this year says that because of all the rain that fell last week, some of the grounds is still muddy and that entrance to the grounds tonight should be made at the Hickory Street entrance. Tonight, the Lip Sync contest will be taking place at 7 with the Bubble Gum Blowing Contest to begin at 8. A new event at the festival this year will be the ATV/UTV Mud Bogs that will be held on the south end of the grounds, beginning at 1 p.m. Kumer says the feedback they committee has been getting is this will good event for the festival. The annual Canton Friendship Festival Parade will take place on Saturday as well, beginning at 10 in the morning. For the 5th year, Canton's Wesley United Methodist Church provided a meal for the carnival workers on the Tuesday night before the Canton Friendship Festival begins.