WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Kansas State Fair says Saturday, Sept. 19, will be a hard-hitting night of rock ‘n’ roll, with a three-band lineup for this year’s Rock Fest at the Fair.

From Ashes to New will share the Kansas Star Casino Grandstand with Saliva and Saving Abel. The concert kicks off at 6:30 p.m.

From Ashes to New

Blending hard rock, hip-hop, electronic and alternative rock, Ashes to New has built a loyal fan base with songs like “Barely Breathing,” “Die For You” and “Drag Me,” with the latter reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Charts in May. “Die For You” was used to launch an anti-bullying campaign in 2018.

Saliva

Saliva saw its first taste of mainstream success with 2001’s “Every Six Seconds,” which featured its breakout hit “Click Click Boom” and “Your Disease,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award. The band has continued forward since the 2021 death of founding guitarist Wayne Swinny, with Bobby Amaru as frontman.

Saving Abel

Southern rockers Saving Abel launched in a Memphis suburb in 2004. The band’s multiplatinum hit “Addicted,” from its 2008 self-titled album, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Reserved tickets go on sale starting Thursday starting at $45 for the grandstand and up to $415 for a VIP reserved table for six that includes two drink tickets, complimentary appetizers before the show and early entrance.

You can find full details at kansasstatefair.gov or call 620-669-3618.

• An invasive shrimp native to the Black Sea has now infested all five Great Lakes.
• Researchers confirmed a breeding population of bloody red shrimp in Lake Superior’s Duluth-Superior Harbor.
• The small crustaceans likely arrived in the Great Lakes via ballast water from ocean-going vessels.

An invasive shrimp is swimming in Lake Superior. This is the last Great Lake to be invaded — all five Great Lakes now are infested by the crustaceans..

Researchers for the first time have confirmed a breeding population of an invasive Black Sea-native shrimp in Lake Superior.

The number and extent of the shrimp’s spread in Lake Superior is not clear. However, there is a breeding population in the Duluth.

The findings by researchers at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Lake Superior Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin Superior, and the Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research in April, found that the shrimp are now reproducing and surviving year-round in the Duluth-Superior Harbor, the farthest west the European species has been confirmed.

“Samples we collected in 2025 from two locations in the Duluth-Superior Harbor, a major inland shipping port in the Great Lakes, contained juveniles, adult males, and (pregnant or with young) adult females, indicating a self-sustaining population. Additionally, we document earlier evidence from 2018 samples we collected in the harbor that contained two juvenile specimens,” the article in the Journal said.

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In an interview on the CBC’s “Superior Morning” show with Mary-Jane Cormier on June 10, lead researcher Donn Branstrator, of the University of Minnesota, said studies in the Duluth-Superior Harbor this spring after ice was off the lake found adult males and females.

“It’s pretty clear evidence of overwintering,” Branstrator told Cormier. “It would be very unlikely for the population to extinguish (at this point).”

Branstrator told Cormier ongoing bi-weekly research in the harbor, and along the Lake Superior shoreline will exam those questions.

According to the research, the non-native shrimp, about a quarter to half inch long, were first detected in the lower Great Lakes in 2006 in lakes Michigan and Ontario. By 2008, they were found in lakes Huron and Erie as well.

“It has also spread to Oneida and Seneca Lakes in New York … as well as the St. Lawrence River and various canals in northern New York State,” the research said.

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Branstrator said the Black and Caspian sea region natives, also have spread throughout Europe into areas they were not native. He said they likely hitchhiked with ballast or bilge water, but the exact mechanism will never be known.

What we know about bloody red shrimp.

What is a bloody red shrimp?

Bloody red shrimp are small crustaceans native to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea region of Europe. They are adapted for fresh and brackish water.