Akron Crazy Dayz

On Saturday, June 20, 2026, Akron Crazy Dayz opened at 10 a.m., with the town calendar placing it at Town Hall, 250 Main Avenue. The host was Original Akron, the town’s Colorado Main Street Program. Its listing named the day’s parts in a column: car show, dance performance, fun run, vendors, food truck, live music. The Town of Akron announced a free dance clinic for the Friday afternoon from 2 to 4, with the performance set for Saturday morning during the car show.

Akron is the county seat of Washington County, on the high plains of eastern Colorado. The Lincoln Land Company, a division of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, platted the town in 1882. A state historical marker erected in 1998 calls the site the highest point between Chicago and Denver, and the company named it Akron, the Greek word for summit. The town was incorporated in 1887 and grew as a railroad, farming and ranching hub. The marker notes that freight trains still rumble along the tracks. A caboose stands at 202 Railroad, and the festival’s color run has used it as a starting line.

From the car show to the movie in the park

The newspaper schedule for the 2024 edition, held June 22, gives the fullest account of the day. At 8 a.m. registration opened in Akron City Park for the 12th annual car show. The show was non-competitive and ran until 2 p.m., with door prizes, a cash drawing and live music, and all proceeds were donated locally. The Akron Vets Home beer garden opened at the same hour. By 10 the Akron Lions Club was cooking hamburgers and hot dogs in City Park for a nominal fee.

At 11 the Crazy Fun Color Run left from the Caboose. The entry fee covered museum admission before the race and a foam party afterward on the Akron Public Library grass, with a family-friendly DJ. From noon to 2 the Washington County Sheriff’s Office ran a bike rodeo at Main and Third Street for children from kindergarten through fourth grade. The highest-scoring boy and girl each won a gift certificate to Snake Pit BBQ, and the department raffled a bike.

The Delta Chi Sorority’s corn hole tournament, in its sixth year, began near Town Hall at 1 p.m. It was capped at 32 teams of players 14 and older, with cash for the top two. At 3:30 the Akron Volunteer Fire Department held its fourth keg wars at Main Avenue and Third Street. Two-person teams on fire hoses blast a hoisted keg past their opponents, in an adult division and a youth division for ages 12 to 17.

From 5 to 8 the downtown block held “Food and Funk,” food trucks and music. At 8 Delta Chi showed “Lyle, Lyle Crocodile” in City Park for those who brought blankets and chairs. TBK Bank supplied popcorn and Stockmens Bank cotton candy.

A car show and a change of month

The car show is older than the June date. In July 2023 the 11th annual Akron Car Show lined Main Avenue with 56 entries of all makes and models, on what the Akron News-Reporter called “a near-perfect summer day.” Entrants paid $15, and those who did not enter for door prizes paid nothing. “Lost in the 50’s” played, “as usual,” and Cornerstone Coffee and the Lions Club sold food. Organizer Keith Damrow said the Car Club had not yet decided where that year’s proceeds would go.

Crazy Dayz was then an August festival. In 2022 the paper announced it with “School is days away, but there is still time for one more summer celebration.” For 2024 organizers moved it from its traditional August weekend and joined it to the car show in June. According to the paper, they believed the change would give people more time for one last outing before school resumed in August.

Keg wars, brisket and a battle of bands

The paper’s 2021 preview spelled it Crazy Days. That year’s festival opened at 8 a.m. with a 5K color run from Akron City Park, and runners were asked to wear white so the colored powder would show. Proceeds went to Hope for Heroes and St. Jude Hospital. The Lions ran a Bloody Mary and beer garden from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lone Star FBLA’s third annual Longhorn Poker Run started at the Lone Star School and ended at the festival. The fire department held its first keg wars.

Food in 2021 came from local groups and businesses:

• the Washington County Cattlewomen, sloppy joes
• the Akron volleyball team, walking tacos
• Country Club 4-H, snow cones and cotton candy
• Cornerstone Coffee and At Ease Bar, breakfast burritos
• the Nacho Tacos and Ana’s Dancing Grill food trucks

The Bank of Colorado brought a bouncy house, the Akron baseball team a dunk tank, and the sheriff’s office water balloons. A cruise-in car show assembled at the park at 11. At 2 p.m. the VFW car smash took place in the old Y-W parking lot, and Delta Chi held its third annual cornhole tournament on Main Avenue. The Lions’ third annual BBQ Cook-Off fed the public downtown that evening. In The Groove and Dennis Fuller played a street dance on Main Avenue until 11.

The 2022 festival fell on August 13. Keg wars came at 10 a.m. for children and adults, and a Cruise In Car Show parked along Adams Avenue at 11. More than 25 vendors came from Akron, Brush, Otis, Fort Morgan and Yuma, and C & C Kettle Corn came from Henderson. The Akron pom squad ran children’s games, and there was face painting and a laser tag maze. All 32 cornhole spots filled early. The barbecue teams began preparing their meat at 4 p.m., each with beef, pork and a third meat. The public bought tickets to taste every team’s entry or bought a plate from a single cook.

Jonathan Moody, who had played the street dance before, played that night from a little before 7 until 10. Jo Anne Busing reported in the Akron News-Reporter: “There was not a big crowd for the street dance, but those who wanted just rested and listened to the music. Some did dance, but just listening was more popular.”

In 2023 the Akron Vets Home added a poker run. Riders left At Ease Bar for Yuma, Wray, Holyoke, Haxtun and Sterling and finished at Crazy Dayz. A Battle of the Bands, open to all types and levels of musicians, put bands on stage from 11 a.m. Remain Nameless took $500, Rodney Meade $350 and Vintage Band $150. More than 30 vendors filled City Park with jams and jellies, homemade décor, henna and balloon animals. The color run offered 5K and 10K courses, and the Lions called their bar the Flamingo Lounge.

Five teams cooked beef, pork and brisket in the fifth annual BBQ Cook-Off, and “the sweet smell of barbeque filled the air throughout the day,” the paper reported. Diners voted as they ate. Brandon Hill of BM BBQ won brisket and People’s Choice, Arturo and Whitney Camacho won ribs and sauce, and Michael Schoenecker won pork and side. At 8:30 Delta Chi showed “Heavyweights” in the park.

A committee plans the day. After the 2022 festival, committee member Susan Watson said the vendors she spoke with had been busy and were glad they came, and several said they had done better than the year before. The paper named Dencia Raish and Brittani Kusel as driving forces, already at work on the next year’s festival. Raish served the Town of Akron as deputy clerk and town clerk for nearly 15 years. On June 30, 2026, ten days after that year’s Crazy Dayz, Town Hall held an open house as she left for a new career path.