While big events like the Mount Rushmore Independence Day and the Sturgis Rally get all the attetion in the Black Hills, there are a number of small events that draw thousands of people and give visitors a taste of what the locals enjoy doing during the summer.

One such event was last weekend’s West Boulevard Summer Festival in Rapid City. About 100 vendor booths and thousands of people descended on tiny Wilson Park on Saturday and Sunday. The weather cooperated, except for a brief squall on Saturday afternoon.

Live entertainment throughout the day included cowboy singer Paul Larson, belly dancers, cloggers, Celtic performers and a couple of homegrown rock bands.

And as he has done for the last several years, wagonmaster Rodger Bucholz and his son brought their teams of Belgian horses and wagons. For $5, you could get a guided tour of the West Boulevard neighborhood. (Full disclosure: I was one of the guides.)

The horse-drawn wagons are quite a sight on West Boulevard, plodding along leading a slow traffic jam up and down the Boulevard. They are amazingly  unbothered by cars and traffic.

The West Boulevard Neighborhood Association has been putting on the festival for 33 years now.

Another event last weekend, although it has graduated from small-town festival to big-time event, was Wild Bill Days in  Deadwood. Country legend Glen Campbell played live for a free concert Saturday night on Main Street. Deadwood was jammed, and the Rhinestone Cowboy rewarded them with a lengthy performance of old standards and new songs.

Just about every town in the Black Hills has an event like this. I’ve been to festivals in Rapid City, Spearfish, Sturgis, Keystone, Hill City and Custer. They’re like county fairs without the livestock and purple ribbons.