Local families, students and classic car enthusiasts packed the streets on the weekend of Oct. 7 and 8 for Burg Fest 2022. The annual street fair, organized by Warrensburg Main Street, had unique attractions from the expansive car show to the Old Drum Ambassador Contest, a competition for the dog who will represent “Man’s Best Friend” for the next year.

  “We usually expect between five and seven thousand people,” Jill Purvis, Director of Warrensburg Main Street said. “With the crowds we’re seeing today, we’ll probably exceed that.”

  Warrensburg Main Street is a nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to improving Warrensburg’s downtown and the surrounding community.

  “A lot of the events that happen in downtown are put on by our organization,” Purvis said. “All of that is obviously to drive business into these downtown businesses, but it’s also to give Warrensburg people the pride of loving where they live.”

 “Whoever put it together did a really good job,” Phil Kemp said. This Burg Fest was the first for the couple. “The cars are awesome so far, I didn’t even look at them all. I can’t even believe how many are here.”

   One event in particular was exciting for Audrey Murphy, a UCM Graduate Teaching Assistant. Murphy entered Molly, her family’s 6-month-old mini australian shepherd, into the Old Drum Ambassador Contest. Surprisingly to Murphy, Molly made it into the top ten.

  “I did it entirely as a joke, too. There was no expectation for her to get to the top ten, but we’re super excited,” Murphy said. “We have a whole crowd of people supporting Molly. My parents, my best friend’s parents and my roommate. She’s pretty cute, so I think she had a good chance of getting first,” Murphy said. “I don’t think she’s ever seen that amount of people in her life, so she was very nervous. She’ll get up on her hind legs and spin around in a circle or two and it’s just one of the cutest things ever. But, we got up there and she wanted nothing to do with treats or anything.”

  The weekend closed on Burg Fest, from its live concerts to dog contests, but it was important for many to see the community out in full force, supporting one another again according to the 2021 Warrensburg Main Street Volunteer of the Year, Janis Russell. 

  “It’s nice to see people out enjoying themselves again, since these are stressful times,” Russell said.