Onalaska’s 32nd annual Sunfish Days celebration is less than a week away, so it might be a good idea to start fishing around for a Sunfish Days button and a schedule of events.

The festival kicks off Thursday, May 22, with the A&P Enterprise carnival midway kicking things off at 5 p.m. in the Onalaska Omni-Center parking lot on Riders Club Road. The midway is open through the weekend, including noon to 5 p.m. Monday.

In addition to the traditional midway, other longtime features of Sunfish Days back this year include pony rides, petting zoo, the Saturday parade (starting at noon), the kids fishing derby (on the French Island side of the spillway Saturday starting at 8 a.m.) and the softball tournament.

The craft fair, a recent addition, is back this year on Saturday (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), along with a new feature, Micro Realty Race Cars, which offers the chance to drive remote control stock cars on a banked oval track. The race cars will be up and running Thursday through Sunday.

The battle of the bands won’t be held this year, but there’s a wide variety of entertainment to be had, including Charissa and the Auburn Sky Band, a country music group led by an 11-year-old who already has recorded four CDs.

Other entertainment includes local favorites Studebaker 7 and REload, along with the classic rock of the Screamin’ Nighthawks, the classy mix of jazz, R&B and pop from Carmen Nickerson, the country of Crossfire and a teenage Lil R, whose show pays tribute to Elvis Presley.

In place of the Thursday night battle of the bands, a deejay duo known as Bad Boys 2 will play a teen-oriented mix of music with contests and prizes.

Sunfish Days buttons are only $2 until May 21 ($3 after) and can be purchased at the Onalaska Center for Commerce and Tourism, the OmniCenter, the Onalaska American Legion, the Onalaska branch of M&I Bank and Festival Foods in Onalaska and Holmen. Festival brochures also are available free at those locations.

In addition to supporting the festival, put on by a coalition of Onalaska civic groups, button wearers also are eligible to win cash in a drawing to be held Sunday.

Full details on the Sunfish Days festivities are available on the Web at http://www.onalaskasunfishdays.com/.

Contact Randy Erickson at randy.erickson@lee.net or (608) 786-6812.