Editing Hays, Kansas (section)

===Events===
Hays is a regional center of [[German American#Culture|German American culture]] due to the number of [[German people|German]] immigrants who settled the area in the 1870s and 1880s.<ref name=HaysCity/> As of 2010, 56.5% of the city population claimed German ancestry.<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> The city hosts several events throughout the year that celebrate this heritage including two [[Oktoberfest celebrations|Oktoberfests]]. The Midwest Deutsche Oktoberfest takes place the third week of September. The Volga German Centennial Association host an Oktoberfest celebration in late September or early October in conjunction with the Fort Hays State University homecoming activities.

To celebrate [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] and to mark its early history as an [[American Old West|Old West]] frontier town, the city hosts the annual Wild West Festival during the first week of July. The festival includes country and rock music concerts, a parade and a fireworks display. On the first weekend in December, the [[Kansas Historical Society]] holds Christmas Past at Historic Fort Hays, showcasing history programs and tours of the fort with it decorated for [[Christmas]] as it was in the late 1800s.<ref name=FrontierHistory>{{cite web | title = Frontier History | publisher = City of Hays, Kansas | url = http://www.haysusa.com/html/frontier_history.html | access-date = November 1, 2011 | archive-date = October 17, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111017091809/http://www.haysusa.com/html/frontier_history.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Each April [https://www.audubonofkansas.org/ Audubon of Kansas] holds their annual [[Tympanuchus|Prairie-Chicken]] Festival in Hays.<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome to Kansas Lek Treks |url=https://www.kansaslektreks.org/ |website=Kansas Lek Treks |access-date=4 April 2025}}</ref>