2. Prairiesta 2011
Every ten years Russell, KS has a huge
festival celebrating Russell County’s
history, heritage and culture. The
celebration has been held every ten
years since 1941.

3. Prairiesta 2011
This is a week long celebration that
includes several events and activities.
Many of the town dresses in clothes
from years back. It is a very respected
celebration in the community and
takes several years to plan..

4. Prairiesta 2011
Every celebration has a Saloon which is
a huge source of funding for present
and future events. In the past the
Saloon has been held in an actual
building on Main Street. That was
fixed up enough to hold the Saloon.
In addition to the Saloon, alcohol has
been a huge part of the celebrating.
When asking many about underage
drinking that had gone on in prior
celebrations it was said over and over
that it was “overlooked”. Many said it
was a free for all during this
celebration and anything went.

5. Prairiesta 2011
When the planning started for the 2011
Prairiesta Russell County was already
well into the implementation phase of
our SPF-SIG Grant to reduce underage
drinking. Awareness of the issue was
on the minds of key leaders when
beginning to plan for the event. Many
wanted to make sure that everything
our community had been working
towards was not lost even for this one
week event that happens only every 10
years.

6. Prairiesta 2011
Key leaders and event organizers began
speaking with law enforcement and
RCCP to address the issue of underage
drinking at this event. There were
many discussions to having a Saloon
like in the past and that would be easy
to address by allowing only 21 years of
age and older in. Because of building
constraints in Downtown that ended
up not being an option.

7. Prairiesta 2011
It was then decided that instead of a
Saloon Prairiesta would have it’s first
ever Beer Tent. The organizers met
with law enforcement and RCCP to
see how it would all work best.

8. Prairiesta 2011
After meeting with law enforcement
and other key leaders with an interest
in preventing underage drinking it was
decided to give EVERYONE a
wristband that was drinking. Law
enforcement thought that would make
it easier for them to control the crowd
and easy to spot whether the person
was of age. It was also decided that
only RCCP members would be carding
and handing out wristbands.
It was clearly posted in various places:
No Band
No Beer!!

9. Prairiesta 2011
The celebration was a success and Law
Enforcement thought it went very
well. It was very easy for them to
patrol the crowds and see the
wristbands of those drinking. It was
also said several times that this event
went much smoother without as many
alcohol related issues as there had been
in the past.