T-R FILE PHOTO The annual Melbourne Mousehole Days festival returns this weekend with a full slate of events beginning Friday.

MELBOURNE — Friday evening the annual Mousehole Days festival will begin in Melbourne. The celebration will offer food, music, kids’ activities, a softball tournament, car show and more.

This year’s theme is a “Walk in the Park” with a tie-in to dinosaurs.

From 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday, enjoy pork burgers prepared by the fire department. At 6 p.m. root bear floats will be served at MidWestOne Bank, followed by the Masons’ Kid Pedal Pull on Main Street at 6:30 p.m. At that time, youngsters will get the chance to be named Miss and Mr. Mousehole (also at the bank). Sign up your kids at city hall or at the pedal pull. Open to children in kindergarten through third grade. The winners are selected through random drawing. You must reside in town or rural Melbourne to qualify.

“They would then be in the parade the next morning,” said Dee Pickard, who serves on the Mousehole Days planning committee.

At 8 p.m. kids can participate in the Monkey Shine Parade at the fire station. Decorate your bike for a chance to win one of three prizes: most colorful bike, matching the theme, and most crazy.

“It’s called the Monkey Shine Parade, because back in the day, Mousehole Days used to be called Monkey Shine. So it’s a little tribute,” she added.

There are no age requirements to participate.

The softball tournament will begin at 7 p.m. At 8:30 p.m., the Melbourne Pub Bag Tournament will happen. Enjoy music behind the rec center from 8 p.m. to midnight with music by The Remedy. Kids can head to the Melbourne Public Library to enjoy an indoor screening of “Kung Fu Panda 4” from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Bring your favorite drink, stuffed animal and blanket.

The fun continues Saturday with a Masons breakfast at 7 a.m. followed by a softball tournament at 8 a.m. and Melbourne Pub Bloody Mary Bar at 9 a.m.

A highlight will be the parade beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the rec center. Next, cruise on over to the car show up town from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can sign up to be in the car show the day of the event.

“Anyone that is wanting to participate in the car show is also welcome to bring up the very ending of the parade and then park their car,” she said. “We want them to be part of the parade.”

New this year will be the foam party in the park from noon to 1 p.m., in place of the kids’ zone.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. lunch will be offered at New Horizon Church, followed by a slip and slide at the library from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. The pool will open at 2 p.m.

Mousehole Mayhem Rugged Pro Wrestling behind the rec center will kickoff at 5 p.m. There will be a splash dance at the pool for teens from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a $5 admission fee. There will be pizza sponsored by the kids’ zone, plus chips and lemonade. The concession stand will also be open. A street dance featuring Exit 185 will take place from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Back this year will be fireworks starting at dusk (after the last softball game).

Food trucks will be on-site Saturday only and include Kiki’s Food Truck at MidWestOne from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Totally Rolled Ice Cream at Smoke Meier Park opening at 11 a.m.; The Eggroll Ladies at MidWestOne 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Smokin Hog Pit Stop BBQ at Smoke Meier Park from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Lucky Wife Wine Slushies at Smoke Meier Park from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On Sunday, church in the park will take place at 10 a.m.

Pickard said the festival had been held for several years before it was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was 2022 when we brought it back again,” she said. “This is the first year that we actually will title ourselves a planning committee. We have six or seven people that come together about once a month. Each of us has our own little thing that we’re taking care of to make this awesome town festival happen.”

Donations are always welcome, and may be sent to city hall.

“Thankfully, when we restarted this up, we started with a pretty good base budget that was left to us from the previous planning committee, but a large chunk of the donations would go into our fireworks show,” she said.

Volunteers are always needed for planning next year’s event. For more information, contact Pickard at: mhdmelbourne@gmail.com