Sudstock returns Saturdayto Carthage Municipal Park

Aug. 15—Pre-register To pre-register for the event and learn more about the Alliance of Southwest Missouri, people can go to the Sudstock website, https://www.theallianceofswmo.org/sudstock-22. Kate Kelley, director of Community Engagement for the Alliance of Southwest Missouri, said every family wanting to participate in Sudstock will have to check in at a registration desk with a volunteer before entering and parents can save time by pre-registering online. She also said paper registrations will be available at the event on Saturday for those who haven't preregistered. Registration is free, but required to participate. "The waiver is pretty straightforward, but it's something we require for all kiddos in attendance," she said.

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Sudstock is back, bringing people "together again for good clean fun," as the theme says, from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at Municipal Park.

Sudstock 2023 will offer foam cannons, food trucks, water slides, inflatables and more in the field near the Jasper County fairgrounds and the new Municipal Park playground.

The event is a reimagination of Mudstock, an event the Carthage Police Department started in 2000 at the former Myers Park Airport grounds in the south part of town. It is hosted by the Carthage Caring Communities committee, Alliance of Southwest Missouri and the Carthage parks, police and fire departments.

This year, Sudstock is dedicated to the late Brian Bradley, a former city parks and recreation superintendent who was instrumental in organizing the event. Bradley was killed in an ATV accident in Newton County on July 2, 2022, just a week after the first Sudstock was held.

"The alliance is dedicating Sudstock to Brian because he was so instrumental in making that event happen," said Abi Almandinger, the city's current parks and recreation director. "He was always such a giving guy and always bending over backwards to do whatever he could from the parks perspective to help make events successful, and I think he really loved the idea of Sudstock and helping to make that happen."

Almandinger said the parks department also will dedicate a picnic shelter at the new Municipal Park playground at 2 p.m. in honor of Bradley.

"To be able to do the two things at the same time is very meaningful," Almandinger said. "It's just been a little more than a year since he passed, and he loved the parks department and did so much for the community from a parks perspective, so we wanted to honor him in this way."

Mudstock was started in 2000 by the Carthage Police Department as a way to give kids something to do in the hot summer of late June or early July alongside the opportunity to promote an anti-drug message to kids.

For 15 years, the event was held on the grounds of the former Myers Park Airport, but in 2015 that land was sold by the city to a developer. It was moved to another location in Myers Park in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.

Putting together Mudstock required digging muddy trenches and other pits that damaged the ground seriously enough to limit its use throughout the year, so organizers decided to turn Mudstock into something cleaner and easier to set up and remove.

Last year's Sudstock featured foam cannons provided by the Alliance of Southwest Missouri, a big waterslide made of plastic donated by Race Brothers Farm and Home Supply in Carthage, a huge shower of water provided by the Carthage Fire Department's ladder truck, food trucks and inflatables.

"We'll have plenty of fun water activities, but Sudstock 2023 will take on a carnival theme with various side shows happening under the big-top tent, educational activity stalls and even a puppet show and book signing by local children's author Isaiah Basey, better known as Izzy B," the alliance said on its website page about Sudstock. "The event is free and different activities will appeal to children of all ages."