Campustown and the city of Ames will host the first ever Dinky Day celebration in honor of Ames’ 150^th birthday. The event will be held in the 200 block of Welch Ave. starting at 5 pm, and lasting until 9 pm providing live music, food and drink.

The event will include three live bands with Daisy Head Maisy starting at 5:15. Both Daisy Head Maisy and Red Wanting Blue, who starts at 6:45, are both local Ames artists who have frequented Campustown in the past.

The head liner, Home Free, starts at 8:15 and was the season four winner of the TV show, “The Sing Off”

Kim Hanna is the executive director of the Campustown Action Association, and hopes that people of all ages will come to participate.

“It’s a family friendly event,” Hanna said, “We’re going to have some inflatables and a mechanical bull set up in the activity area.” Face painting will also be held in the US Bank sponsored activity area.

 Free commemorative Ames cups will be given out, as well as free root beer and cream soda at the Kingland sponsored soda fountain.

There are also going to seven different student organizations represented in the Cyclone Market including ISU Rodeo, who will be helping with the mechanical bull.

Mary Misak is the alumni and community outreach co-director for Dance Marathon, which will have a booth at Dinky Day. “Dance Marathon is always looking for ways to reach out to the Ames community,” Misak said, “to spread the word about what we do and to give back to the community that has given so much to our organization.”

The Ames Historical Society will be present, with a historical back drop depicting the 100-year-old Dinky train, as well has the historical train station that students would be dropped off at which is now The Hub coffee shop on central campus.

The Ames Historical Society is also using the Dinky Day celebration as an opportunity to showcase their new educational trailer, which was funded by the Ames 150 Legacy foundation.

Dinky Day is the third event in a series of celebrations to honor the 150 years that Ames has existed. Dinky Day is set to honor the relationship that Ames has had with Iowa State University for more than 100 years.

The final event will be on December 17^th, which marks the official day that the first 12 blocks of Ames was laid in a grid.

In the event that rain prohibits the event from being outside, it will be held in the Ames City Auditorium. Barring poor weather conditions, Kim said, “we are hoping to have a wonderful evening for outdoor music and fun.