It may be unusual for college students to end their summer with a husk, but not in Urbana. The 38th Annual Urbana Sweetcorn Festival returns Friday and Saturday to showcase live music, local businesses and plenty of sweetcorn.

This year’s festival begins Friday night from 5 to 11 p.m. and continues 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. throughout Saturday on downtown Urbana’s Main Street.

Cynthia Johnson, executive director of the Urbana Business Association sponsoring the festival, said this year will feature Sweetcorn’s first-ever “Agzone” on Friday evening to share agricultural facts and fun.

“In addition to a hay bale maze, kids and parents will be able to participate in a large number of agricultural-related activities,” she said.

According to Johnson, other activities were added to attract visitors of all ages, including children’s inflatable areas and the Motor Muster car show for vintage automobile aficionados.

“In addition to corn, visitors can also treat themselves to all different types of locally grown food from 30 unique local vendors,” Johnson said.

Several bands will perform both days, including headliner Kansas, famous for the song “Carry on Wayward Son,” at 9:15 p.m. on Saturday evening at the Miller Main Stage. The festival’s two stages return for 2013, and Johnson said the Miller Main Stage will feature most of the festival’s headliners while the One Community Together stage will showcase regional performances.

Johnson said the festival always aims for a “culturally diverse line-up” of music performances. In response to Kansas’s act, she stated she is exciting to see them.

Admission to the festival is free, and tickets for food and activities will be sold for $1.

Adlai can be reached at [email protected].