{"id":4951,"date":"2021-08-12T08:55:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T13:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visitaltoona.com\/?p=4951"},"modified":"2021-10-20T11:49:08","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T16:49:08","slug":"altoona-palooza-makes-its-glorious-muddy-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visitaltoona.com\/blog\/altoona-palooza-makes-its-glorious-muddy-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Altoona Palooza Makes its Glorious, Muddy Return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a pandemic-year hiatus, the community festival returns Saturday, August 28th at the Sam Wise Sports Complex<\/strong>. This year\u2019s event features new activities, old favorites\u2014and, of course, the infamous Mud Volleyball Tournament.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Every summer (well, almost every summer) thousands of Altoona residents and visitors come together to eat, drink and be merry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And throw inflatable axes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and drag each other through the mud (you know, in a friendly, neighborly way).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the uninitiated, Altoona Palooza<\/a> is an all-day outdoor festival in Altoona, Iowa\u2014a massive field day for adults and children alike. Admission is free<\/strong>, as are many (but not all) of the activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The fun starts early with a pancake breakfast and runs late into the evening, with friendly competitions (mud volleyball, bags, inflatable axe-throwing, tug-of war), activities for families (a car show, inflatables, and a Kid Zone), food trucks, and an all-day beer garden, with nearly nine hours of live music throughout the afternoon and evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s headliner is FlashMob!<\/a>, a Minneapolis-based pop, dance and rock cover band. They take the stage at 8:30PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s not all fun and games! As the Altoona community continues to grow, Steve Moyna, who helped found the event back in 2010, says that Altoona Palooza is an opportunity to bring neighbors closer together\u2014and potentially create some new connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur hope is that people are going to meet a neighbor they haven\u2019t met before, potentially a new friend or business partner,\u201d said Steve, the Vice President of Business Development at Elder Corp<\/a>, a sponsor of Visit Altoona and Altoona Palooza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAltoona is now home to about 20,000 people. Personally, I only know about 19,500, so I\u2019m trying to meet the last 500\u2014then I never have to leave town again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s new this year?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While Palooza\u2019s most popular activities are making their return\u2014of the three co-chairs\/founders we spoke with, all three named Mud Volleyball as their personal favorite\u2014some interesting new competitions are making their debut:<\/p>\n\n\n\n