Mule Days 2025

BENSON – A large crowd filled downtown Benson on Saturday for Mule Days 2025. 

The annual parade was a big hit with young and old, with many horses, bands, floats—and of course, mules, moving down Main Street.  The first half of the parade was in a light rain but the drizzle stopped and skies began to clear by the end of the parade. 

Food and merchandise vendors appeared to be doing a brisk business with the ‘pedestrian only’ streets filled with thousands of people.

The festival has been held annually on the fourth weekend of September since 1949, when Nowell Smith, Jr. and the McLamb Brothers founded it as a tribute to the mule and rural life.

The annual festival is estimated to draw 20,000 to 30,000 people across the multi-day event. The parade alone is estimated to draw about 20,000 spectators.