Photo by Zachary Siebert / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Brenda Bloss, of St. Joseph, swings her bare feet in the scorching July air on a carnival ride at the 12th annual Amelia Earhart Festival in Atchison Saturday. The festival began Friday and concluded Saturday, most notably with carnival rides and a massive fireworks display.

Photo by Zachary Siebert / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Brenda Bloss, of St. Joseph, swings her bare feet in the scorching July air on a carnival ride at the 12th annual Amelia Earhart Festival in Atchison Saturday. The festival began Friday and concluded Saturday, most notably with carnival rides and a massive fireworks display.

Thousands of people flowed through Atchison, Kan., over the weekend. Some from hundreds of miles away.

The 12th annual Amelia Earhart Festival kicked off on Friday and picked up steam before its grand finale Saturday.

Friday’s events included a party at the lake and LakeFest 2008. Saturday’s events began at 8 a.m. and continued through the heat and humidity long into the night.

Area resident Jan Buttron has attended 11 of the 12 festivals and could be found at the carnival with her granddaughter Saturday afternoon.

“It’s Atchison.” Ms. Buttron said. “It’s something that you just do and it’s fun. It’s hometown.”

One of the events Ms. Buttron says shouldn’t be missed is “Concert in the Sky.”

“The fireworks are just beautiful,” Ms. Buttron said.

Hundreds of people could be found hours before the show, staking their claim along the river for the fireworks.

The Huggins family experienced the festival for the first time. They drove all the way from St. Louis, Mo., to experience all Atchison, Kan., had to offer.

“We were here for a family reunion last year and heard about the festival, so we thought we’d check it out this year,” Matt Huggins said.

The mother of the group, Margie Huggins, was thrilled at all the events to keep her family happy.

“The kids decided to come to the carnival,” Ms. Huggins said. “We’ll go to the fireworks show later.”

This year marked the 80th anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. With more than 20 vendors and four concerts at Veterans Memorial Park just before “Concert in the Sky,” the festival appeared to be a big hit.

Megan Tilk can be reached

at megantilk@npgco.com.