The little town of Hanna is making big plans to entertain both young and old at the annual community festival on August 8 and 9, called HannaFest. Hanna is located in southern La Porte County on highway 30 between Valparaiso and Plymouth. “We have been celebrating the history, culture, and people of our community for over 20 years now”, according to Jim Jessup, festival coordinator. “We love to show off our friendly little community, welcome our guests, and provide food, fun, and entertainment for everyone” he said.
The Hanna Lions Club sponsors HannaFest and will have their world famous BBQ Chicken for sale from 10 am until sold out. A variety of other foods, including home-made goodies, will be available. Local restaurants and stores will also have special meals and deals.
This year the festival features lots of kids’ activities, with free games and challenges, pony rides, a magic show by Kalita, a pet parade, inflatable rides, the world’s weirdest parade, face-painting, and kid-friendly food. For adults there will be live entertainment featuring NightShift Band and Katthouse in the park during the day, and the Hanna Volunteer Fire Department will feature their Summer Heat Street Dance Saturday night with 2 live bands, including Pfreakshow (PS Dump your Boyfriend). There will also be a car show all day Saturday. For the shoppers there will be a town-wide garage sale and a variety of vendors in the park.
There is free parking and entry to all events (Street Dance is for adults only and has a cover charge). “We invite people to park and stroll around our friendly streets, and enjoy visiting our town and neighbors”, Jessup added.
On Friday night there will be community Bingo for adults and kids. “This is a time for our community to come together for fellowship, fun, and to win prizes playing Bingo”, said Lions Club member, Teresa Bals-Elsholz. There will be lots of food and drink available and a cake walk. Friday night will end at 9 pm with a mass luminary liftoff over the town.
For more information about HannaFest, contact Jessup at 219-797-4407 or jimjessup@frontier.com.
