All in for a crawl? You expect spinach at this JoCo fest, but maybe not this contest

It’s time to let the babies make their move.

The Swee’Pea Baby Crawling Contest — one of the popular events at the annual Lenexa Spinach Festival — is returning this month after its pandemic hiatus.

It’s simple why this event is a favorite, said Susanne Neely, recreation supervisor at Lenexa Parks & Recreation.

“Babies are so cute and unpredictable,” Neely said. “It’s fun to watch the babies crawl to reach their parent holding a favorite toy or other item at the other end of the mat.”

The Lenexa Spinach Festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 10 at Sar Ko-Par Trails Park, 87th Street Parkway and Lackman Road.

Lenexa’s title as Spinach Capital of the World dates back to the 1930s when a buyer from Chicago was seeking a new source for the leafy vegetable. Lenexa farmers at the time grew many crops, including spinach. But the Chicago buyer’s need encouraged more farming of spinach.

The festival was founded in 1982 by the Lenexa Historical Society originally as a way to promote local artists. The society included spinach, which emerged as its theme.

The official recipe of the world’s largest spinach salad, which is served during the festival, includes 150 pounds of spinach.

Baby contests came along later. Neely said the first crawling contest was held in the mid 2000s.

“The idea came up in a brainstorming session when we were thinking about fun activities or old-time games and contests that could be connected to the Popeye cartoon characters,” Neely said. “For the Swee’Pea character, we wanted to do something that would involve babies, and came up with the crawling contest.”

The number of contestants that take on the length of a gymnasium mat differs each year, but as many as 24 babies have been entered in the contest.

Unlike any other activity or contest at the Spinach Festival, participants in this activity are new every year since they are only at the crawling stage for a short time, Neely said.

The Spinach Festival was held last year but not the crawl because of the pandemic.

“The baby crawling contest and a couple of other activities were canceled out of caution to encourage people to spread out at the festival,” Neely said. She said her biggest hope every year is “for people to come and have a fun day and make memories with their friends and family.

“I feel like it is a successful event when I can look around the park and see people laughing, smiling and enjoying themselves — whether it be playing at the children’s activities, browsing at the craft booths, tasting the food, listening to the music or participating in one of the contests,” Neely said.

“I think that when people create great memories with their family and friends, it’s fun to return to the event and enjoy the experience again. The Spinach Festival offers a wide variety of activities to appeal to all members of the family.”

Crawling babies who are not walking yet are allowed to compete. Check in is at 10:30 a.m. The contest will take place at 11 a.m.

“We typically hold different heats so only a few babies are crawling at a time,” Neely said. “Two adults should accompany each baby participating in the contest — one to stay with the baby at the starting line, and one to call the baby to the finish line.”

For more information, go to www.lenexa.com/spinach

This story was originally published September 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "All in for a crawl? You expect spinach at this JoCo fest, but maybe not this contest."