The seemingly nonstop rain made outdoor events like Junkstock a bit soggy this weekend. With the mud in the parking fields so bad, more than a dozen cars needed to be pulled out of the mud Saturday.
Plans were to bus people in Sunday from Metro Community College campus in Elkhorn.
The bi-annual vintage festival was in full swing Saturday, with hundreds of vendors and thousands of people turning out to Sycamore Farms in Waterloo.
"I think this is a new record,” said Danelle Schlegelmilch, Junkstock spokeswoman. “Normally in the spring and summer, we deal with rain. But for October, this amount of rain, it’s pretty amazing, not going to lie."
Besides the thousands of people, Junkstock draws vendors from near and far. Earlier today, this Nebraska weather wasn't so accommodating.
"It rained overnight,” Schlegelmilch said. “It’s been raining off and on throughout the week so we knew our farm was going to be a little bit soggy, come later in the day a few little cars were getting a little stuck."
But turning out in the weather did earn locals brownie points with out-of-towners.
"This is Nebraska. Went across the prairies in a little boat in a little wagon and horses and mule and oxen pulling them,” vendor Farron Tucker said. “Went through blizzards, desert, storm engines everything. We made it. A little bit of rain is nothing for Nebraska people.”
Despite the added challenges the rain brings, it didn't dampen any spirits.
"A little more rain than we normally get,” said vendor Pat Mallette of Blair, who spent the day in his Junkstock tent playing the cigar box guitar. “Normally we get one day maybe, but it is what it is.”
This edition of the festival featured tiny weddings at the tiny chapel; and giant kites from Midwest Winds Kitefliers.
Junkstock was started in Spring 2012 by Junque’ Factory store owner Sara Alexander, who had two store locations, one being a chicken coop at a West Omaha dairy farm, which she repurposed into "a revival for junk lovers to gather."
The first event was held in June 2012, with 29 vendors; today, there are nearly 200. Junkstock recently moved to Sycamore Farms, a century-old horse farm, just a few miles down the road.
