The Big Dirt Dig has a new location this year and a new component to the event for children.

The Big Dirt Dig and Pumpkin Hunt will be 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sept. 28 at the Street Department maintenance facility, 701 Warren Barrett Drive.

The event is sponsored by Hannibal Parks & Recreation, Hannibal Street Department and Parents as Teachers. The city of Hannibal will provide a huge pile of sand for youngsters to play in and will also have several maintenance trucks on display. Children are encouraged to bring shovels, buckets, trucks and digging toys.

As part of the Oktoberfest festivities in downtown Hannibal, which will be Sept. 27-29, there will be small pumpkins buried in the sand.

Whitney Holliday, director of Hannibal Parents as Teachers, said, “This kind of play is lots of fun for everyone. It allows the youngsters to express their creativity while enhancing their fine motor skills.”

The Big Dirt Dig had been planned for June in front of the Admiral Coontz Recreation Center, but flooding from Bear Creek caused the event to be postponed.

Hannibal residents became familiar with the Street Department maintenance facility when they helped fill thousands of sandbags in May and June. Mary Lynne Richards, Hannibal Parks & Recreation, said many children came with their parents to volunteer. She said she is glad the event is being rescheduled.  “It’s fun to watch the children practice their social skills such as cooperation and sharing as they work together.”