By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Once again, Big Creek Crossing will host a carnival in Hays, bringing rides, food and games to the shopping center.
Moore’s Greater Shows is set to run from Thursday through Sunday in the center’s parking lot on those evenings and will include similar amusements to previous years’ events, said Big Creek Crossing Marketing Director Branson Hoffman.
While the exact times and prices will be set upon the carnival’s arrival, and will be dependent on set-up time and weather, he said they would post updates on their facebook page.
In previous years, Hoffman said the times were 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, 6 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Armbands will again be available each night.
With the loss of the Wild West Festival carnival this summer, Hoffman said the center is happy to bring one to the community.
“I would just say it's a needed attraction,” he said. “I think this is something that they were recently finding out. … This is the only carnival that's going to be in Ellis County, to our knowledge. So we're excited to have something for family fun for pretty much all ages.”
“Bring your kids, have them ride the kiddie rides, bring your teenagers, have them ride the older rides if you don't want to do that at all, partake in the food. … So it’s something to get out of the house, something to have fun with and have a good time. That’s really what it boils down to.”
As the only summer carnival in Hays, Hoffman said it is a unique attraction.
This year he expects similar attractions to previous years.
“They usually have four to six kind of teenager rides, the big rides,” Hoffman said. “They'll have four to seven of the kiddie rides. And then in the past, they've had, you know, plenty of food trucks with pretty much anything from your turkey legs to your funnel cakes and all that good stuff. So we're anticipating pretty much the same layout.”
He said they also anticipate the Ferris wheel will return and the carnival will be in a similar location to previous years.
“It should be pretty much the same,” Hoffman said. “We're expecting them to be on the south part of the Vine Street parking lot.”
