Mike the Headless Chicken Festival

It started out like any other day in 1945 at the Olsen family farm. Lloyd was beheading chickens while his wife, Clara, was plucking, cleaning and preparing them for market. When the family woke up the next day, one of the beheaded chickens was still walking about. Word spread and soon an article about “Mike the Headless Chicken” was featured in Life magazine. Mike became a popular side show that toured around the Western states while he lived another 18 months without a head. Today the bizarre fowl phenom is celebrated at an annual street festival in Fruita, with live music, car shows and a wing-eating contest.