Celebrate Menasha: Live music, drone shows highlight the city's 150th birthday party

Duke Behnke, Appleton Post-Crescent
·2 min read

MENASHA — The city will stage a party this Friday and Saturday that's been 150 years in the making.

The Celebrate Menasha festival, the highlight of the city's yearlong sesquicentennial commemoration, will feature carnival rides and games, food trucks, live music and what's billed as the Fox Valley's first-ever drone shows.

"On both nights when the skies turn dark, turn your eyes upward for a dazzling display," the city said in a press release. "Our drone shows, presented by Menasha Corp., will feature over 150 lighted drones in a brilliant, choreographed presentation."

The drone shows will be directed toward the Menasha Marina.

Celebrate Menasha is free to attend. Activities will begin at 5 p.m. Friday with carnival rides and games, performances by Mischief & Magic, food trucks and a beer tent.

The Cody Earl Band will play from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on the Community First Main Stage at the intersection of Main and Tayco streets, followed by 40 Years Late from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The headliner is Hot Rod Huey & the B-Sides, a Huey Lewis tribute band, which will perform from 8 to 11 p.m.

Menasha timeline: City celebrates 150 years as "Your Place on the Water"

The city of Menasha is 150 years old.
The city of Menasha is 150 years old.

Activities will resume at 12:30 p.m. Saturday with an authors panel featuring David Galassie, John Gremmer, Steve Krueger, Gavin Schmitt and Rebecca Zornow.

At 3 p.m., kayakers will meet at Jefferson Park, 989 Kargus Drive, for Paddle the Canal. Paddlers will follow a pontoon boat hosting Brainstewed, a Green Day tribute band. The trip will end at the Menasha lock.

Saturday's lineup on the Community First Main Stage will start with Time Machine Band from 5 to 6:30 p.m., followed by The Lilie Collins Band from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and Project Pink, a Pink Floyd tribute band, from 8 to 11 p.m.

Menasha incorporated as a city on March 5, 1874, and has been celebrating its sesquicentennial since January.

Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Live music, drone shows highlight Menasha's 150th birthday party