Kansas festival brings tourists to giant shovel attraction

WEST MINERAL, Kan. – An annual festival in southeast Kansas is bringing crowds in to see a giant electric coal-mining shovel that has turned into a tourist attraction.

The Joplin Globe reports the Polka Fest will be held Saturday at Big Brutus near the town of West Mineral.

Big Brutus Museum Manager Betty Becker says the 16-story electric shovel was built in the early 1960s. It was shut down about a decade later when coal prices declined and has been a mining museum since 1985. It was also designated a Regional Historical Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1987.

Becker says the festival brings in about 30,000 visitors a year to see Big Brutus.

The festival will also include polka music and dancing, as well as a beer garden and a variety of food.

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Information from: The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com