2026 DakotaFest Women's Brunch & Vendor Fair

Mark your calendar – the Mitchell Area Chamber of Commerce will host the Dakotafest Women’s Brunch and Vendor Fair on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at the Highland Conference Center in Mitchell! Tickets will be on sale July 6, 2026 at 8 a.m. 

The annual Dakotafest Women’s Brunch and Vendor Fair provides a fun, inspiring experience for women and is held in conjunction with the Dakotafest Farm Show. This year’s keynote speakers are Laura Klock, owner of Farm Life Creamery, and Kelly Scheetz, owner of Scheetz Mercantile. The theme this year is:

“Together We Grow: What Happens When Women Choose Collaboration Over Competition”

Laura Klock and Kelly Scheetz are both in the dairy industry, entrepreneurs, mothers, community leaders, and champions for rural South Dakota. Each has built something unique in our state's agricultural landscape.

Laura helped create Farm Life Creamery, home to South Dakota's only small on-farm Grade A licensed bottling plant and one of the region's most innovative agritourism destinations. Kelly founded Scheetz Mercantile and recently introduced South Dakota's first commercially produced French-style creamline yogurt.

What makes their story remarkable, however, is not what they have built individually. It's how they work together.

Rather than viewing one another as competitors, Laura and Kelly chose collaboration. Farm Life Creamery has shared equipment, knowledge, and resources that helped launch Scheetz Mercantile's yogurt production. Today, their businesses continue to work together through product development, local sourcing, and partnerships that strengthen agriculture and small businesses across South Dakota.

And when the Blase Family, source of milk for Farm Life Creamery, experienced a devastating dairy barn fire on May 1, the Scheetz family stepped forward once again, helping care for and milk cows while the Balse's are navigating recovery.

Together, they represent the very best of rural America: neighbors helping neighbors, businesses supporting businesses, and communities becoming stronger because people choose collaboration over competition.

Tickets go on sale July 6!

Vendor forms can be found here. 
Sponsorship forms can be found here. 

For questions, please contact the Mitchell Area Chamber of Commerce at 605-996-5567 or email johanna@mitchellsd.com