Tonganoxie Days “was a good success” this past weekend, according to one of the festival’s organizers.

Monica Gee with Tonganoxie Business Association spoke during Monday’s Tonganoxie City Council meeting.

There were 47 vendors and six food trucks, along with several children’s games that West Haven Baptist Church operated.

West Haven game organizers told Gee they estimated 500 youths visited the carnival games. They had 200 punch cards, which ran out around 11:30 a.m. Games started at 9 a.m.

“The games were wonderful and the church wants to do them again,” Gee said at the meeting.

The Tonganoxie FFA petting zoo in the former community garden space east of the new city council chambers also was a popular spot.

Gee said that T-shirt sales were average, but “it was the first year and we didn’t know what to expect.”

For the car meet, some 24 vehicles were in Tonganoxie for the event. Gee said it was a partial success considering it was the same weekend as a show in Ottawa that had 2,500 vehicles.

The area of Fourth and Delaware buzzed later in the day with a street dance and band performances.

Gee heard mostly good feedback after the first year of Tonganoxie Days in September. After festivals were put on hold in 2020 during earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tonganoxie Days, traditionally in June, and the newer Sunflower Stroll, which had taken place annually in September in recent years, merged. The new Tonganoxie Days took place in September for the first time this year.

Vendors filled out surveys, with just one expressing that they didn’t plan to return next year. And a couple downtown businesses, Rustic Heifer and Jeannie’s Formals, Fashions and Boutique reported record single-day sales Saturday, Gee said at Monday’s meeting.

The festival finished up with a sidewalk dance and performances from Way Too Famous and Flannigan’s Right Hook.