The three-day festival runs through Saturday, with the main event, the tug of war, beginning at noon Saturday. A 2,700-foot rope weighing a whopping 680 pounds will be strung across the Mississippi River from LeClaire, Iowa, to Port Byron, Illinois, as the two states battle it out for glory.

New to the festival this year were the child vendors who lined Port Byron’s main street with a wide range of crafts and goods. Lea was one of many who spent the summer preparing for her craft debut and she had her grandmother to thank for that.

“We’re going to the craft store,” she said.

The couple picked out things for Lea to make and sell, she said.

Preparing in advance was also the strategy of Audrey Gibney, the 12-year-old owner of The Plant Place.

Audrey and her mother bought seeds in July and used a hydronic system to get them ready in time. Their goal was to raise enough money to go to Girl Scout camp.

His fellow entrepreneur Briley Klinkenberg also worked on this.

“I wanted to go to summer camp, but it’s very expensive,” she said.