15th Mule Jumping Competition

Part of the Old Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival, there will be demonstrations of mule jumping at 2 p.m., with competition beginning at 6 p.m.

Mule jumping, that most Missourian of Missouri folk arts, seems to have developed when raccoon hunters began training mules to jump over fences so that they did not have to interrupt the hunt to locate a gate. It became a competitive event unto itself, and mule jumping contests began to take place at county fairs and town picnics throughout much of the rural Southeast and Midwest, especially Missouri.

Come see our Missouri State Animal in action!