Dazzling Daze: Lions Club Festival Starts Friday

It’s time to get ready for a weekend of excitement as the Sussex Lions Daze celebration will take place Friday through Sunday at .

Lions Daze, which is run by the Sussex Lions Club, has been going for nearly 40 years and is the biggest celebration in the village, with 100 percent of all profits going to various charities to help fight diseases and help those in need.

“You have a bunch of like-minded people who want to serve, so this is an opportunity for us to take those profits we make and help those who most need it,” event co-Chairman Jim Long said. “It’s a good feeling and a lot of work, but we have a lot of fun doing it.”

The free event kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday, with bingo and a softball tournament taking place, along with live music and fireworks at dusk. The festival will close at midnight.

On Saturday, the festival will run from noon to midnight, with live entertainment joined by a tractor pull beginning at 4 p.m. The parade also starts at 4 p.m. and will run from Waukesha Avenue down Main Street to the Village Park.

The event will wrap up Sunday, with a road rally beginning at 9:30 a.m., the gates at the park opening at noon and $2 draft beers available until 7 p.m. as part of the Sussex Lions Stimulus Day. The popular fire department water fights will also start at 1 p.m.

Long said the popular carnival will be back for a second year, which will provide entertainment for adults and children, who can purchase a wristband for $18 between noon and 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, which allows them to ride every ride with the exception of bumper cars.

“It’s a very clean carnival,” he said. “It’s a very family friendly atmosphere.”

Long said plenty of food and beverages will be available for purchase at the event, with other community groups allowed to raise money for their organizations. New items for sale this year include glasses of wine and wine slushies.

A whole community event

With the parade slated to take place Saturday, organizers for the festival said people coming to Lions Daze will have the opportunity to see a parade that is truly an event for the whole community.

Ralph Modjeska, chairman for the parade, said roughly 8,000 to 10,000 people attend the parade each year to see what their community has to offer.

This year’s parade, which is themed “Let Freedom Ring,” will feature 63 parade units, including horses, clowns, the Tripoli Motor Corps, local businesses and student organizations from .

The will be back in the parade this year after being absent the past several years while members were on active duty overseas. Modjeska said the unit is planning to bring a “big piece of equipment” to the parade. 

Judges will also be watching the parade and presenting five different trophies to the best units in the parade.

“To me, it really brings the community together,” he said. “I mean, 8,000 to 10,000 people flock out to watch this parade in such a little community, and they know it supports the community and our special projects with helping blind people and people that have health problems.

"The big appeal to me is that it really brings the community together, and if you ride or walk along the parade route you will see thousands of people clapping and cheering and it’s a really big thing," he said.

Schedule of events

Friday

• 6 p.m.- event opens
• 6:30 to 10 p.m.- bingo
• 8 p.m. to midnight - performance by Sweet Tarts
• Dusk - fireworks
• All night - men’s softball tournament

Saturday

• Noon - gates open
• Noon to 5 p.m. - $18 carnival wristbands for all rides, except bumper cars
• 2 p.m. - sheepshead tournament
• 4 p.m. - tractor pull
• 4 p.m. - Lions Daze parade
• 6 to 7:30 p.m. - Radio Disney Road Crew
• 6 to 10 p.m. - bingo
• 8 p.m. to midnight - music performance by The Crisis
• All day - men’s softball tournament

Sunday

• 9:30 a.m. - road rally
• Noon - gates open
• Noon to 5 p.m. - $18 carnival wristbands for all rides, except bumper cars
• Noon - sheepshead tournament
• 1 to 5 p.m. - bingo
• 1 p.m. - firemen’s water fight
• 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. - live musical performances from Gearbox and Bellevue Suite
• 2 to 7 p.m. - camel and pony rides
• 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. - balloon sculpting
• All day - men’s softball tournament
• All day - $2 draft beers