NEBRASKA — The Nebraska Junk Jaunt is set to take place Sept. 22-24 across the center of the state. The event is also celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
“The Junk Jaunt® is the largest garage sale in the state of Nebraska. Sometimes antiquers and garage sale buffs are lovingly referred to as ’Junkers’, thus the name. It is 3 days of city-wide garage, yard & bake sales with “treasures” of just about every type and description,” according to the Nebraska Junk Jaunt® website.
The Junk Jaunt® is nearly 500 miles of garage sales, collectibles, antiques, vintage and gastric delights. The event is always hosted the last full weekend of September.
The event began in 2004 with around 75 vendors and 1,000 shoppers. By 2011 and 2012, license plate surveys and guest books showed that 20,000 people attended from 34 states, including Hawaii, several Canadian provinces and other international visitors.
The event takes place over nine counties in central Nebraska, the communities involved include: Anselmo, Ansley, Arnold, Ashton, Bartlett, Berwyn, Boelus, Brewster, Broken Bow, Burwell, Cairo, Comstock, Dannebrog, Dunning, Elba, Ericson, Farwell, Grand Island, Halsey, Hazard, Litchfield, Loup City, Mason City, Merna, North Loup, Ord, Ravenna, St. Libory, St. Paul, Sargent, Scotia, Spalding, Taylor, Westerville, Wolbach and Wood River.
Over the past years there have been between 400-500 vendors, scattered throughout 35-40 communities. “About 20 towns are located on the actual Byway loop while the others are located on both the west and east sides of the loop and in the center of the loop,” per the website.
The event route can be explored on two of Nebraska scenic byways, the Sandhills Journey Byway and the Loup Rivers Scenic Byway, they form the basic, “looping route,” of the Junk Jaunt.
“One end of this loop begins in Wood River, located about 30 miles west of Grand Island, NE and just north of Interstate 80 highway. From Wood River it follows the Loup Rivers Scenic Byway (Highway 11) north to Burwell, where it changes to Highway 91 west. It follows Highway 91 west to its’ beginning at the small village of Dunning,” per the website.
Vendors are encouraged to be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. or later, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The hours of each seller are listed in the Shopper Guide, which can be purchased.
“All of the towns organize three days of sales and fun. It is designed so, no matter what direction you are coming from, the first town you hit can be your starting point. You customize your own route according to the time you have,” according to the website.
The Junk Jaunt® was started by the tourism committee of the Loup Rivers Scenic Byway Association and later grew into a non-profit organization of its own. The event is produced by numerous volunteers from the roughly 40 communities within the nine-county area.
“Each town strives to show visitors and Junk Jaunt® shoppers the natural uniqueness and beauty of their communities and give you a small taste of the ethnic diversity found throughout the entire area,” per the website.
