If you want to beat the heat, you're in for a treat as the fourth annual all-you-can-eat ice cream event returns to downtown Jefferson City.
Hosted by the Jefferson City Cultural Arts Foundation, the Ice Cream Splash will run 6-9 p.m. Friday in the 100 block of West High Street.
People can sample treats from places like Central Dairy, Love My Gelato, Culver's, Unilever, Prairie Farms Dairy, Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, RJ's Real Italian Ice and Bailey's Ice Cream Shoppe. There also will be food trucks, crafts, games, contests, chalk art and music.
"We're excited to again offer this all-you-can-eat ice cream event," foundation chair Lucia Kincheloe said. "It's really designed to bring families together for a couple of hours to enjoy an old-fashioned family night together."
The foundation raised about $14,000 during last year's Ice Cream Splash, Kincheloe added.
In past years, the Ice Cream Splash was a fundraiser for the Community Park splash park, which the Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department may construct this fall. Since the foundation reached its goal of about $60,000 for the splash park, Kincheloe said, it plans to use the funds from this year's event for its new "city-wide smart-technology-based walking tour" project.
"Portals of History" would involve an augmented reality app that promotes locations in Jefferson City. The app allows a smartphone or tablet to mix real-world surroundings with what's on the screen.
"We want to energize, animate (and) bring alive the history of significant families that built Jefferson City, Old Munichburg, The Foot area, Moreau Drive," Kincheloe said. "There's so much wonderful history just beneath the surface and so many unusual, fascinating stories that aren't really common knowledge that we would like to share."
Individuals can purchase early-bird tickets ahead of the event - $10 for adults and $5 for children - at Carrie's Hallmark Shop, Hy-Vee and Gerbes in Jefferson City as well as squareup.com/store/icecreamsplash. Early-bird prices end at noon Friday.
Ticket prices at the event cost $15 for adults and $5 for children.
Families could attend the Ice Cream Splash and then go to Stars Under the Stars at Ellis-Porter Riverside Park Amphitheater, Kincheloe added. The Parks department, Missouri River Regional Library and Missouri Care will show "The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature" at 8:45 p.m. Friday, with pre-show activities beginning at 7 p.m.
Correction: The Ice Cream Splash early-bird ticket prices last until noon Friday. Information about the time was incorrect in the original version of this article but has since been corrected in the text above.