Iowa
12 things to do this weekend in Des Moines include Savannah Bananas, Cy-Hawk game
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Shawntelle Madison
Thursday evening: Meet a Des Moines author during this free event at the Des Moines Central Library, 1000 Grand Ave., Des Moines. Shawntelle Madison kicks off the library’s 2024 Fall Author Series. Her new novel, “The Fallen Fruit,” covers “a family saga that follows a Black family that for two centuries has been cursed with the gift of time travel.” Madison also writes science fiction, romance, and fantasy books, include her urban fantasy series, “Coveted.” She’ll talk about her work starting at 5 p.m.
Ruth Harkin
Thursday evening: Former Sen. Tom Harkin’s wife, Ruth Harkin, releases her new book, “When My Husband Ran for President and Other Short Stories,” and launches it with a book signing at the Tom and Ruth Harkin Center on the Drake University campus, 2800 University Ave., Des Moines. The free event from 5 to 7 p.m. includes remarks from Ruth and former Iowa Supreme Court Justice Marsha Ternus. Ruth and Sen. Tom Harkin will be available for a brief question-and-answer session, followed by a book signing by Ruth in the atrium. The book will be available for purchase at the event, and all author proceeds from the book will be donated to The Harkin Institute endowment fund.
More: Ruth Harkin memoir shows wit, retrospection of pathbreaking Iowan who’s made a difference
Savannah Bananas
Friday night: Zany baseball antics courtesy of the Savannah Bananas take over Principal Park, 1 Line Drive, Des Moines, through Sunday. Tickets have been sold out for some time now, but if you got lucky, expect Banana Ball shenanigans against the Party Animals. On-field antics like choreographed dances, crazy rules (if a fan catches a foul bout, it counts as an out), crowd participation skits, and fun props are all part of the fun starting at 7 p.m.
More: The Savannah Bananas are headed back to Des Moines this week. Here’s what you need to know
‘It’s Only A Play’
Friday night: Step out for a meta night of theater when the Tallgrass Theatre Co., 2019 Grand Ave., West Des Moines, presents “It’s Only A Play.” The play takes place on opening night of “The Golden Egg” on Broadway, and Julia Budder, the wealthy producer, hosts a party at her home. Everyone awaits the reviews in her bedroom as celebrities enter downstairs. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show start at $33. The production runs on Fridays through Sundays through Sept. 22.
More: How to spend the perfect day in Valley Junction with restaurants, bars and shopping
First Friday
Friday night: Drop by Mainframe Studios, 900 Keosaqua Way, Des Moines, for First Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. The evening includes featured fashion artists who specialize in jewelry, design, and fiber. Find a henna artist, interactive photo displays, and craft activities during the free event that spans all five floors. From 7 to 8 p.m., see a fashion show in the Big Room.
Luenell
Friday night: The “Original Bad Girl of Comedy” Luenell takes the stage at Hoyt Sherman Place, 1501 Woodland Ave., Des Moines for an 8 p.m. show. See the star of the Netflix comedy special “Town Business” with tickets starting at $29.50.
Renaissance Faire
Saturday afternoon: Fetch ye olde turkey leg and a cup of meade and prepare to wander the nine stages and more than 50 vendors at the Renaissance Faire at Sleepy Hollow. The event returns with jousting, birds of prey, fire breathers and jugglers, minstrels, jesters, and belly dancers from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park, 1408 Arthur Ave., Des Moines. Tickets start at $23 for those age 13 and older, free for kids. Buy tickets online. Continues next weekend as well.
Touchdown Tailgate
Saturday morning: Can’t make it to Iowa City to watch Iowa State take on Iowa? Head to Cowles Commons at 221 Walnut St., Des Moines, for Touchdown Tailgate. The event from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. includes free admission for the Cy-Hawk game, shown on two Jumbotron TVs. Find food trucks Farmboys BBQ, Roadside Tacos, Big Red Food Truck and Sweet Swirls as well as a private bar selling alcohol. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. Bring your own chair, too.
DSM Gamer Jazz
Saturday afternoon: Hear jazz band renditions from legendary video games such as “Super Mario,” “Street Fighter” and “Plants vs. Zombies” when the Des Moines Gamer Symphony Orchestra plays at Jamie Hurd Amphitheater, 4100 Millis Civic Parkway, West Des Moines. The free concert runs from 2 to 3 p.m.
Concours d’Elegance
Sunday afternoon: See vintage, classic, and exotic automobiles from around the world during the 2024 Des Moines Concours d’Elegance. The free event at the John & Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Western Gateway Park, 1330 Grand Ave., Des Moines, runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
PorchFest
Sunday afternoon: See 24 bands play on Union Park porches for PorchFest from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The rolling music festival takes place on the front porches of the residents of Union Park in Des Moines, with music from a variety of genres. Festival attendees can migrate from one performance to the next to listen to the 45-minute sets of live music. See the map of homes at porchfestdsm.org.
Justin Willman
Sunday night: Magician Justin Willman brings his Illusionati Tour to Hoyt Sherman Place, 1501 Woodland Ave., Des Moines, at 7 p.m. Willman’s show includes an interactive evening of magic, comedy and mind-control. Tickets start at $42.50 to see the star of the Netflix series “Magic For Humans” and “The Magic Prank Show with Justin Willman.”
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. You can reach out to her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
The opening round of the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Golf Tournaments took place on Tuesday in three classes of action.
Class 3A, Class 2A and Class 1A compete in the spring, as Class 4A crowned individual and team champions this past fall.
Defending Class 3A individual state champion Parker Rodgers of Nevada is out to a strong start, firing a round of 3-under at Gates Park Golf Course in Waterloo, Iowa, to take the early lead. Rodgers sits two shots ahead of Spirit Lake’s Jaizik Miller.
Rodgers, a junior who shot a two-round total of 7-under last year, four birdies and an eagle, carding a three on the par-5 sixth.
Jamin Colvin from Ballard is third at even-par as two others are at 1-over and four more at 2-over heading into Wednesday.
The team standings are packed at the top, as Knoxville, Ballard and North Polk all shot the same score and are tied for the lead. Atlantic and MOC-Floyd Valley are each just a shot back, with Solon sitting three back of first.
Trey Swanson Leads After Opening Round Of Class 2A
Junior Trey Swanson from Rock Valley holds the overnight lead in Class 2A, as he fired a round of 2-under at South Hills Golf Course in Waterloo, Iowa. A shot back of Swanson is McGavin Smith from West Beanch, as both Benny Waller of Aplington-Parkersburg and Judd Jirovsky of Grundy Center are tied or third at 1-over.
Waller was an all-state basketball player this past winter while Jirovsky earned honors on the football field and is committed to Stanford University to continue his golf career.
Waterloo Columbus Catholic holds a two-stroke advantage in the Class 2A team race over Rock Valley, as Unity Christian and Grundy Center are tied for third, eight shots back.
Defending Class 1A State Champion Faces Deficit
Keith Thompson of Hamburg, the two-time defending Class 1A individual state champion, is a shot back after 18 holes of competition. Thompson fired a 1-under to finish second heading into Wednesday, as East Marshall’s Cody Weaver is first.
Weaver, also a senior, carded a 3-under that included five birdies at Westwood Golf Course in Newton, Iowa.
Drew Henderson of North Union and freshman Sid Hesse of South Winneshiek are tied for third at 1-over.
Harris-Lake Park holds the team lead by three shots over both Boyden-Hull and South Winneshiek.
Complete results and live scoring can be found online at both the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa PGA Junior websites.
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Watch: The three things that led to the Iowa caucus disaster
Three things led to a disastrous caucus night for Democrats.
The Des Moines Register
Iowa Democrats will travel to Washington, D.C., this week to pitch a streamlined caucus plan they hope will convince national party leaders that Iowa deserves another shot to be at the front of the presidential nominating calendar.
The state is among a dozen that will make in-person appeals to members of the Democratic National Committee’s powerful Rules and Bylaws Committee across three days beginning Wednesday, May 27.
That committee is tasked with setting the calendar for the 2028 presidential primary — a move that will determine where a wide-open field of expected candidates will dedicate their time, attention and resources in the years ahead.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart has argued repeatedly that the committee should reconsider Iowa as Democrats work to regain ground with rural, working-class voters who have fled the party in droves.
“In order to do that, we’ve got to have a state like Iowa where any Democratic presidential candidate can compete, where it’s affordable and where the candidates can look forward to getting up close and personal and really understanding the issues that will bring us back to an understanding of working class voters,” Hart told the Des Moines Register.
The committee plans to choose one state from each of four geographic regions, as well as a potential fifth state.
Members said the final calendar should include a grouping of states that represent the wider electorate.
The applicants are:
- East: Delaware and New Hampshire
- Midwest: Illinois, Iowa and Michigan
- South: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
- West: Nevada and New Mexico
Each of the prospective states made written applications, which the committee reviewed at a January meeting.
Here’s what Iowa Democrats want their 2028 presidential caucuses to look like
Late last year, the Iowa Democratic Party released the results of a survey it conducted to gather feedback from rank-and-file Democrats about the future of the presidential nominating caucuses.
Hart said it was clear through that survey that Iowa Democrats want the caucuses to be more accessible.
She said Iowa Democrats are proposing opening an absentee window to allow Democrats to indicate their presidential preferences by mail ahead of an in-person caucus.
“We can no longer hold a caucus on one cold night in January and think that that’s representative of our Democratic Party,” Hart said. “That’s a priority for us that we have more accessibility, and the obvious way to do that is through a mail-in process.”
Hart said that absentee process will be completed before Caucus Day to allow for an in-person component, which is also important to Iowa Democrats.
But gone will be the caucus format of years past when Democrats had to physically stand to show their support for a candidate and be counted.
The complicated math and “state delegate equivalents” also are out.
Instead, Democrats will express their preferences for their favorite candidate in writing.
“I think from our party faithful, from our volunteers who were tasked with making that math work, I think that was a lot of pressure on people and just was a headache,” Hart said. “They want a simpler process.”
She said she believes the new proposed process retains “the character and the flavor of the in-person caucus” but ditches the things that overcomplicated the system.
The tabulation of results should be simpler, and the party plans to hire a vendor to ensure it can release the full set of results on Caucus Night, she said.
In the past, any hint of paper ballots has triggered a fight with New Hampshire, which has long argued that it holds the nation’s first primary after Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. If Iowa’s caucuses starts to look too much like a primary, New Hampshire has pushed back.
“My major concern is not with New Hampshire,” Hart said. “New Hampshire’s got to do what New Hampshire’s got to do. We’re going to do what’s best for Iowa.”
At the presentation in Washington, D.C., representatives for Iowa will make the case to the committee that in addition to winning back rural voters, national Democrats need to be able to counter the message Republicans will be spreading in Iowa as they host their first-in-the-nation caucuses in 2028.
Republicans spent $120 million in ads while competing in Iowa’s 2024 Republican caucuses, they’ll say, far exceeding what was spent in other early states.
Iowa representatives contend that unanswered messaging overwhelmed Democrats in Iowa and nationally at a key moment in the campaign cycle.
They will also argue that Iowa Democrats are on track to regain ground in the 2026 midterm elections with key battleground seats in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and the governor’s race.
How did Iowa Democrats get here?
The DNC stripped Iowa of its first-in-the-nation caucus spot and reordered the nominating calendar in 2022 following a disastrous 2020 presidential caucus in which Iowa’s results were riddled with delays and errors.
Then-President Joe Biden recommended that South Carolina replace Iowa at the front of the line in 2024, with New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan to follow.
In 2024, rather than holding their traditional in-person first-in-the-nation caucuses, Iowa Democrats held a fully absentee mail-in event with the results announced on Super Tuesday in March.
Democrats met in person only to conduct party business the same day Iowa Republicans held their caucuses.
The DNC reopened the calendar process in 2025, with committee leaders saying they would prioritize states that can create a “rigorous, efficient and fair” nominating contest.
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.
POLK CITY, Iowa (KCCI) – The summer swimming season may just be getting underway, but the Iowa DNR says there are already some beaches people should not swim at.
As KCCI reports, four Iowa beaches have high levels of E. coli in the first tests of the year: Backbone Beach, Beeds Lake Beach, Pine Lake South Beach, and Bobwhite State Park all had high levels of the bacterial colony.
The DNR tests state beaches every year from Memorial Day to Labor Day for various bacteria.
Big Creek Beach passed its first test of the season. With the beach testing high for bacteria in previous years, families said they were glad the beach tested all clear so far.
“The kids are happy to be playing in the water this year, so I’m glad that they’re able to swim and we’re not as worried,” said Sarah Sarton of West Des Moines.
Health officials urge caution even when water looks clean. Polk County Public Health director Juliann Van Liew said people should avoid consuming the water and use swim goggles when going underwater.
You can look up the water quality monitoring map on the DNR’s website.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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