WACONIA
COMMUNITY | GUIDE 2025
Community festival draws thousands
While it’ s common for most cities to hold an annual community festival or celebration, only Waconia has Nickle Dickle Day, an annual event spearheaded by the Waconia Chamber of Commerce that traditionally brings in 30,000 or so visitors every year.
Its origins are rooted in the deep commitment of the business community to make Waconia a family-friendly destination. In 1961, business owners Ralph Molnau and Art Laufenberger attended a State Chamber of Commerce meeting to look for a way to bring shoppers into town. The idea they embraced was sidewalk sales.
After much discussion, merchants began to focus on the sale of five cent objects. Although a number of different names for the event were considered, it was Laufenberger himself who came up with Nickle Dickle Day. In the early years, retailers put all the goods they wanted to sell on tables in front of their shops. Several groups sold sloppy joes for five cents apiece but soon discovered people were buying bags of the sandwiches at a time and taking them home to freeze. Today, one can still find a huge variety of food at Nickle Dickle Day, but the cost will be a tad bit more than five cents.
A new event was added in the mid-1980s, the Antique and Collector Car and Truck Show. Also added were food and crafts vendors in City Square Park. Today, the car show attracts more than 400 entries each year and is considered on of the best car shows in the area. In the early 1990s, St. Joseph Catholic School added a three-on-three basketball tournament and District 110 Community Education added fun runs.
Attendees will enjoy live music, Rotary duck races, 120 + craft and vendor booths, more than a dozen food vendors, the Friends of the Waconia Library book sale, a mechanical bull, demonstrations, and business and restaurant specials, some incorporating the five-cent tradition associated with Nickle Dickle Day.
The event remains the biggest selling day for retailers in downtown Waconia and is an important fundraising opportunity for many local non-profit groups.
Nickle Dickle Day is held on the second Saturday after Labor Day in September. In 2025, the 64th Annual Nickle Dickle Day will be held on Saturday, September 13. The street dance is held the night before on September 13. Visit DestinationWaconia. org for more information.
2025 | WACONIA COMMUNITY GUIDE | 33