Kool-Aid Days

Kool-Aid Days is a three-day festival in Hastings, Nebraska, celebrating Kool-Aid and its connection to the city where Edwin Perkins developed the powdered drink mix in 1927. Perkins’s earlier product, Fruit Smack, was a liquid concentrate, but shipping heavy glass bottles was difficult. He removed the liquid and created a powder that could be packaged in envelopes, giving rise to Kool-Aid. The Hastings Museum’s Kool-Aid history identifies Hastings as the birthplace of the drink.

The festival began in Hastings in the late 1990s, although accounts differ on whether its first year was 1997 or 1998: the Hastings Museum timeline lists 1997, while a 2021 report dates the beginning to 1998. Kool-Aid Days was held for three days beginning on the second Friday in August from 1998 through 2019, was canceled in 2020, and has been held for three days beginning on the third Friday in August since 2021.

Past festivities have included a parade, Kool-Aid drinking contests, a World’s Largest Kool-Aid Stand, boat races, games, musical entertainment, and a “Miss Kool-Aid Days” pageant. The festival’s official website describes volunteer roles such as mixing and serving Kool-Aid and helping with the 5K Fun Run.

How to Observe Kool-Aid Days

Celebrate by mixing a cold glass of Kool-Aid in your favorite flavor, then learn more about Edwin Perkins and the drink’s Hastings beginnings through the Hastings Museum’s history. If you can visit Hastings during the festival, enjoy the parade, contests, games, races, and other scheduled activities. You can also try a playful Kool-Aid-inspired food such as fried Kool-Aid, or make Play-Doh with Kool-Aid powder, activities reported during past celebrations.

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