Extension Office gives kids a place in Frontier Days

Moore County youths can enter more than 60 cultural arts categories and a homemade apple pie contest

8:15 a.m. June 15, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Before the music starts and the Square fills up, before the chicken bingo, fireworks, and tractors rolling through town, there will be pies carried into the IBIS Building, artwork ready for display, canned goods lined up, photographs turned in, and handmade work waiting for a ribbon.

That is where Frontier Days begins for a lot of Moore County kids.

The Moore County Extension Office is calling on local youth to enter the Frontier Days Kids Cultural Arts exhibits, with more than 60 categories open to ages 18 and younger. Categories include sewing, painting, canning, baking, photography, and plenty more – the kind of work that still feels right under the roof of a hometown festival.

The Extension Office events matter because they give kids more than something to watch. They give them a place in the weekend – a pie to bake, a picture to frame, a jar to can, a project to carry in, and a little pride with their name on it.

Entry packets are available at the County Building, 241 Main St. in Lynchburg, or by emailing Brenda Hannah at Bhannah1@utk.edu.

Kids Cultural Arts entries should be dropped off at the IBIS Building, 161 Main St. in Lynchburg, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 24. The exhibit will be open during Frontier Days at the IBIS Building.

The Extension Office is also hosting a kids' homemade apple pie contest during Frontier Days. The contest is divided into two age groups: third grade and younger, and fourth through 12th grade. Pies are due by 2 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at the IBIS Building. Questions may be directed to Brenda Hannah at (931) 212-5267.

A full weekend on the Square

Around those kids’ entries, Frontier Days will do what Frontier Days does – fill the Square with contests, music, food, exhibits, cars, tractors, hot air balloon rides, and fireworks.

Friday gets the weekend moving with the FCE Cultural Art Exhibit, a car cruise-in, chicken bingo, the kids' pedal pull, and a live performance by 90 Proof.

Saturday brings the full festival rhythm: cookoff smoke, skillet tosses, tractors, Rangers, exhibits, auctions, Moon Pies, kids in costume, Power Wheels, balloon rides, music from Eian Rivera and Cody Cozz, and America 250 fireworks to close the night.

It is the kind of day where folks wander the Square, check on the cookoff, catch a contest, cool off where they can, and somehow end up back in the middle of it.