AMBOY — The 35th annual Amboy Depot Days will take place Aug. 27 through Aug. 30, with the annual car, truck and motorcycle show scheduled for Sunday. Bill Gerdes, president of the Depot Days Car Show Committee, said hundreds of vehicles are expected for the show, which draws participants from across the area.
“We will have people starting at the gate parked at 3 a.m. for the 6 o’clock opening. So those guys typically love a particular parking spot, so we let people park where they please and we try to make everybody as happy as we can,” Gerdes said.
The festival begins Thursday with the Miss Amboy Pageant, Little Miss Amboy and carnival rides, followed by live music. Friday will include community wide garage sales, craft booths, a bags tournament, carnival rides and live music. Saturday will feature the Sylvan Shuffle 5K, a farm tractor show, a Touch a Truck event, wrestling, karaoke, the Depot Days Parade and live music.
The car, truck and motorcycle show will run from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Gerdes said between 50 and 100 volunteers help organize the show each year. Sunday also will feature nitromethane dragsters, custom cars, live music and the annual 50/50 drawing. Gerdes said last year’s 50/50 drawing reached $234,000, and this year’s total already is ahead of that amount. The festival will close Sunday afternoon with the car show awards and the 50/50 drawing.