Carnival rides, live music, shrieks of terror and glee and wafts of sweet and savory eats in the air characterized the annual Soybean Festival held Aug. 23-24. 

Putting on a festival this size required many committees and planning months in advance. Some of those committees were carnival, vendor, sponsorship, cornhole tournament and entertainment. 

Meagan Miller, former Mexico Jaycee president and member of the festival’s carnival, vendor and sponsorship committees said, “We have all different kinds of committees to try to not make the presidents have to do everything.” 

Miller’s role included going to local businesses to secure sponsorships and finding vendors. The Jaycees worked to keep things local. 

“I just love this organization and I love how the community supports us. We need a lot of support from the downtown community or business owners because we're closing down a lot of the streets Thursday, Friday, Saturday” said Miller. 

To combat potential sale losses for the local businesses on those streets, the community was encouraged to stop in local shops and eateries. “We don’t want to take away from any business. So we're really thankful to all the business owners downtown that they're very grateful to us,” said Miller. 

Though months of planning went into putting on the festival not everything happened according to that plan, courtesy of Missouri weather. 

While it did rain on Saturday’s parade, which resulted in the cancellation of the Auto and Motorcycle Car Show, it did not last all day. As it was on Friday, people were still able to come to the carnival, support vendors, and listen to live music. 

Friday, 54 Country House Band and Jake Clayton took the stage. Saturday’s live entertainment included music from opening act Grady Frazier and Caballo Blanco and Lick Creek Band. 

Though this year marked the fifth time Grady Frazier performed for the Soybean crowd, it was the band Caballo Blanco’s debut. The band includes all three of the Frazier brothers, Grady, Haden, Connor and friends. Connor Frazier, however, was not present for the debut performance.

Being brothers in a band would seem rough but for them, it was a way of keeping their close bond and growing together.

“Getting to see them grow, like, I don't know, what more could an older brother ask for? Seeing them mature, and be really good where it's like, man, you guys are putting in work. I didn't know that,” said Grady Frazier. “In my head, I'm battling ‘I remember you when you were tiny’ but you're definitely not that anymore.”

Haden Frazier grew up watching his brother perform. “Back in the day, whenever he would perform, and I was just a little kid, he'd be like, Haden, if you get really good at any instrument, you can be in my band. And then it happened.”

When Grady got the call to perform he asked if the band could play and during the set, he made a space for Haden to perform his solo single. 

“It was really special because he kind of gave me a shout out and stuff like that, and it's always just nice to have him reassure me,” said Haden Frazier. 

Performing for their hometown crowd was a surprising experience for the brothers. “I grew up watching, I live right across the street from the stage, and so I would just sit there and just watch people perform every year, year after year, and of course, this is such a big thing for Mexico,” said Haden Frazier. “It's the biggest thing that we put on minus the Fourth of July, so it was just cool, and I don't know, I wasn't expecting as many people as there were.”

Living in Columbia, performing at home for Grady Frazier was a chance to reconnect with familiar faces. “Coming here and playing, I knew so many people out there. And it's like, oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in 10 years. But I'm so glad you're here. It's so cool to play for you,” said Grady Frazier.

With strains of music, food, and rides, the festival was a family affair. Lashanae Jones, who grew up in Mexico, has been attending for years. Jones attended the festival with her son, niece, and nephews. “It's good. It's decent. I wish that they would double up on the rides.  Just to cut down on the lines, but I love it because you get to see a lot of people you haven't seen. It brings people from other areas. So, I enjoy it,” said Jones. 

While the dust on the ground is settling once again, thoughts of the next festival are not far from the minds of the Jaycees. “We listen to everybody's complaints and try to see how we can make the festival better every year,” said Miller.