The Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce promotes festivals and special events during the year. Chamber sponsored events are valuable for our area. The events build a sense of community by bringing together people from our region and from out of town to socialize. Community events also help put Boonville on the map through our marketing efforts. Events bring dollars from out of town and from area residents. These special events help the Chamber raise funds to do good things for the Boonslick region. Chamber of Commerce events continue to grow and offer Chamber members opportunities to participate and to enhance their business image or to volunteer and build relationships with other community leaders. Contact the Chamber if you want to be a sponsor or volunteer for one of our annual events.

Businesses and organizations want resourceful ways to develop relationships with current and potential customers. Sponsorship of an event is one way to do this. Sponsors can integrate the event sponsorship into their customer relationship and marketing programs. A customer’s experience with the event or activity can enhance their connection or relation to the sponsor’s brand or trade name.

  • Sponsorship broadens your company’s image, reputation and trustworthiness by supporting events that your customers enjoy attending and find appealing.
  • Sponsorship establishes goodwill among your business, your customers and your community.
  • Sponsorship is a cost effective method for increasing a company’s visibility in their community.
  • Sponsorship is a valuable marketing tool to reach specific audiences or a wide-mass of attendees.
  • Sponsorship improves how companies are perceived by their customers and can influence their buying attitudes.
  • Sponsorship provides great networking occasions for businesses.
  • Sponsorship creates positive publicity for a company through the event’s own promotional plans.
  • Sponsorship gives a sense of pride of our community.
  • Sponsorship promotes community interaction and improves the feeling of connectedness.

Missouri hosted 35.8 million visitors in 2010. Special events & festivals ranked as one of the top 15 visitor activities in Missouri last year. (In 2009, events & festivals were ranked 22nd in Missouri visitor activities.) Special events & festivals have become more than an economic development tool for our area.

Many benefits are gained by hosting community special events & festivals. We demonstrate commitment to our community, increase recreational activities for our area and offer promotional opportunities for businesses. Special events & festivals attract visitors and promote cultural exchange, rejuvenate local tradition, improve our community image and increase our quality of life.

Community special events & festivals encourage civic involvement to build partnerships. These events & festivals contribute to the revitalization of our community and express a sense of celebration. Special events & festivals bring locals and visitors together to experience our community’s unique character and historical qualities.

The Chamber is devoted to work in partnership to improve our destination image, to create social activities for the public and to add economic opportunities for our area as we move Full Steam Ahead.

  • Annual Banquet
  • Ag Appreciation Banquet
  • Meet the Candidates
  • Spring Progressive Dinner
  • Heritage Days
  • Fall Progressive Dinner
  • Festival of Lights
  • Christmas in Historic Boonville
  • Monthly Socials
  • Ribbon Cuttings/Open Houses

(Tourism is a $11.4 billion industry for the Show-Me State, supports 281,255 jobs and provides $900 million in state and local taxes for communities each year.)

Special Events

The Chamber of Commerce’s special events have been happening annually for many years. Each of these community events offer many opportunities for members and non-members to participate.

If you have questions on how you or your organization can be involved with some of our events, check out the following document. Contact the Chamber office for additional information.

Boonville Chamber of Commerce Rules for Festivals and Events Participation

      1. I. Open Events v. Closed Events
        1. a. Open Events are events that have booths and/or have a general policy in place for participation from the general public
        1. ii. Heritage Days

b. Closed events have no booth sales, have no history of allowing members of the public to set up separate sales or fundraising projects

        1. i. Annual Banquet
        1. ii. Ag Banquet
        1. iii. Christmas Festival
        1. iv. Workshops
        1. v. Spring & Fall Progressive Dinners

II. Participating in Chamber Open Events

      1. a. Request to participate must be made in writing with a presentation to the festival committee or task force.
      1. b. The overseeing committee or task force will make recommendations to the executive board.
      1. c. The executive board will make a decision on recommendations.
      1. d. The executive board will inform the Chamber board members at the next monthly board meeting.
      1. e. Deadlines for request should be made at least a month in advance of next board meeting. If proposal for request do not meet deadline, the request may need to wait till next year to be included in the event. It is up to the Chamber board to make exceptions if deadline missed.
      1. f. Fees will be recommended by the committee or task force and determined by the executive board

III. Participating in Chamber Closed Events

      1. a. Request to participate must be made in writing with a presentation to the festival committee or task force.
      1. b. The overseeing committee or task force will make recommendations to the executive board.
      1. c. The executive board will make a decision on recommendations.
      1. d. The executive board will inform the Chamber board members at the next monthly board meeting.
      1. e. Deadlines for request should be made at least a month in advance of next board meeting. If proposal for request do not meet deadline, the request may need to wait till next year to be included in the event. It is up to the Chamber board to make exceptions if deadline missed.
      1. f. Fees will be recommended by the committee or task force and determined by the executive board.

IV. Fee Schedules can be obtained from the Chamber office.

Voted as one of the “Best Festival In Central Missouri”. Boonville has been celebrating Heritage Days since 1989. The Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce works all year to make this festival happen. The fourth weekend in June is selected as the time to celebrate. Much goes on during this celebration—parade, carnival, arts and craft booths, food vendors, free entertainment, static displays, Mutt Strut, Little Mr. and Miss, beer garden, wine garden, quilt show, car show—and much, much more.

The Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce helps open the Christmas season with the arrival of Santa Claus. During this time, many Chamber businesses provide specials. Watch for details from the Chamber Office.
Each year Santa heads to town to be ready for our Christmas season. Santa can be found in his Santa House–follow the signs in downtown Boonville.

Each January the Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce holds its annual meeting in a fun and festive atmosphere. During the annual meeting, new Board members and executive officers are sworn in; awards are presented to regional businesses, organizations or individuals; entertainment is provided; and a meal is served. It is a full evening recognizing our Chamber’s accomplishments.

The Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce holds a Progressive Dinner each year. A progressive dinner involves several member businesses that host and serve a portion of the evening’s menu. Appetizers, soup and salad, main course, and dessert are provided and dished up at different businesses throughout the meal. The dinners are a fun way to meet people, learn about the hosting businesses or organizations, and enjoy an impressive meal.

The Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce helps promote democracy for our region through our Meet The Candidates nights. The Chamber hosts a special candidate night for each contested race for our Boonville City Council seats or for our county positions within Cooper County. If we can schedule participation from state candidates running for state positions, we will invite and include them.

Sippin' Strollin' Rockin' & Rollin'

Downtown Boonville will be the place to be on Saturday, September 24, for Sippin’ Strollin’ n Rockin’ & Rollin’. The event, co-sponsored by the Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Cooper County Branch of the Boonslick Regional Library, will feature tastings and sales of a variety of wines, craft beers, and distillery spirits that will be presented by their signature establishments. Vendors are being added daily and a complete list will be published in advance of the event.
The festivities will be held from 4 pm to 7 pm—with a VIP Preview at 3 pm—and will conclude with a concert by the popular mid-Missouri band “C Rock City,” known for its classical rock selections, from 7 pm until 10 pm. In addition to delicious fare provided by local restaurants and eateries, well know food trucks from central Missouri will be on site throughout the event. Tickets and distribution locations are finalized and tickets will soon be available for purchase locally and online through the Chamber website.
The event committee, co-chaired by Ken Hirlinger and Mary Pat Abele, is seeking musicians interested in playing in small venue settings throughout the Strollin’ area. “This event is a perfect way to showcase Boonville and its resources as well as provide a fun and relaxing environment to enjoy Missouri beverages and music,” explained Ken Hirlinger. Proceeds from the event will benefit Chamber projects and the relocation of the Library to its soon-to-be new home on the Kemper Campus. “The event also allows patrons to support the Library’s move in a unique way that will help make a long-time dream become a reality. We encourage everyone to mark their calendar and save the date,” added Mary Pat Abele.

Additional information will be available in the near future through the media as well as posted on the Chamber and Library websites (info@boonvillemochamber.com and boonslickregionallibrary.com) and Facebook pages. Questions should be directed to the event co-chairs, Ken Hirlinger (573.864.1763 khirlinger@sumnerone.com) and Mary Pat Abele (660.888.1611 marypatabele@gmail.com).

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

LOCATION

Downtown Boonville/https://goo.gl/maps/m3NSgaUdeLGNiBwn8

FEES

3 pm – 7 pm VIP Preview 3 pm-4 pm – $40 (Limited Number Available)
4 pm – 7pm Sippin’ & Strollin’ – $25* (Advanced Purchase)
*                                          – $30 (Day of Purchase)
*                                          – includes Concert
7pm – 10 pm Rockin’ & Rollin’ Concert featuring “C Rock City Band” –$10 (Concert Only)