by Kate Laffey, Staff Reporter Published June 29, 2026
Local events this weekend will help Ames celebrate the country's 250th anniversary, including fireworks at Jack Trice Stadium, a parade, a patriotic concert at Bandshell Park and a celebration at the Ames History Museum.
Roughly 60 artists displayed their work for the community to enjoy during the 32nd annual Art Walk on Thursday. Residents strolled through downtown perusing the variety of art, including paintings, ceramics, digital art, embroidery, 3D prints, stickers and more. Musicians and dancers also performed at the event, and if hunger struck, event-goers could grab a bite to eat at Super Dog or The Inside Scoop food trucks.
by Lara Jones, Staff Reporter Published June 11, 2026
The Ames NAACP aims to create a space for citizens to enjoy one another's company as well as remember the meaning of and embrace opportunities to educate themselves on the importance of Juneteenth at its annual celebration this weekend. The event is at Bandshell Park from 12:30 to 5 p.m Saturday. It includes a slam poetry reading, a story walk of influential African American Ames citizens and local vendors.
by Kate Laffey, Staff Reporter Published June 10, 2026
Local actors Alyson Perry and Jenna Levendusky find that Ames Community Theater has been a place of comfort and growth for them. They play Ariel Moore and Betty Blast in ACTORS’ musical production of Footloose, which opens tonight and is completely sold out through its closing night on June 28. The ACTORS community could not be more excited for a sold-out show, which closes its current 70th season.
by Lara Jones, Staff Reporter Published June 10, 2026
Summer Daze at the Parc is back for a new year with food trucks and themed nights. Organized by Community Choice Credit Union, the food truck series located at the Parc, 202 E. Lincoln Way, kicked off on May 28, welcoming back families for food and fun with a “color pop” theme.
With summer Ames having arrived, the city’s live music series have also returned. Several long-running outdoor events begin in the coming days and the performances span from rock to country and jazz to pop.
Eric Smidt started his career telling stories through social media. It's since expanded to include print publications and podcasts, among others. But one avenue he is most passionate about is through documentaries. Smidt, vice president of marketing & communications at the Ames Regional Economic Alliance, has been making occasional documentaries for the last 15 years. This fall, he is bringing that passion for the documentary form to the entire community, helming the inaugural Ames Documentary Film Festival, scheduled for Sept. 27 at the Ames Public Library.
As a boy, Joel Sartore read about passenger pigeons, a once common North American bird that likely numbered in the billions, and had a difficult time understanding why people allowed the pigeon to be hunted to the point of extinction. More than five decades later, Sartore, a photographer for National Geographic and founder of the Photo Ark, is even farther from any understanding. Satore will speak about his career and the Photo Ark work, which aims to photograph all species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Sun Room in the Memorial Union.
by Douglas Burns, Contributor Published March 18, 2026
With a rare sense of place, a know-it-when-you-see-it Iowa-ness, Art Cullen’s roaring new book, Dear Marty, We Crapped in Our Nest: Notes from the Edge of the World, is nothing short of an unsparing mirror for 3.3 million of us in the state. With still-night whispers of truth and bar-fight ferocity this western Iowa newspaperman reveals the masquerade-ball leadership that’s turned so many of Iowa’s once-warm communities into furnaces of justified grievance and misdirected outrage.
by Jessie Knapp, Staff Reporter Published February 2, 2026
To celebrate scientist and inventor George Washington Carver, the ISU concert choirs will perform alongside the Golden Voices Concert Choir from Tuskegee University on Tuesday at Stephens Auditorium.
by Amber Mohmand, News Editor Published December 23, 2025
Throughout the month of December, Reiman Gardens is decked with over 200,000 lights that transform the gardens into a winter wonderland with light tunnels, disco balls, Candy Land, s’mores and more.
