A five man crew from Kansas City, Kansas is making sure shade will be easy to find for patrons and performers during the 42nd Annual Smoky Hill River Festival.

Terry Fox is the project manager with Marquee Event Rentals and says they packed all the poles, tents and ropes to build 15 tents in a semi truck and hit the ground running on Tuesday.

“We’ll be wrapped up today and then back on Monday to tear it all down,” he said.

Fox added the tents range in size from a mammoth 40-foot by 120-foot structure, down to a 12-foot by 12-foot tent.

River Festival Executive Director Brad Anderson was admiring Marquee’s work on Wednesday morning as the tents were taking shape, “It’s their first year here and they’re doing a great job,” he said.

“They are a highly professional group and we believe the frame tents will hold up better in the wind.”

Anderson added they hired the Kansas City firm after a competitive bidding process with three finalists. Anderson says the tent company will use frame tents on about half of the structures this year, while the others are pole tents.

The 2018 version of the Smoky Hill River Festival promices a ‘Sensory Feast’ from June 7th through June 10th, plus 7 brand-new food vendors, 30 new artists at the Fine Art and Four Rivers Craft Show and 13 first time entertainers.