Iowa City — Hawkeye fans, grab your Cracker Jack and peanuts because the Savannah Bananas are coming to town. The Bananas and the University of Iowa announced Thursday night that two of the most exciting baseball nights ever will take place at Kinnick Stadium on July 3 and 4, 2026. The start time for both games is set for 7 p.m. (CT).
The venue selection contains a great deal of irony. A baseball field transformed from a football stadium? The Bananas thrive on that kind of boundary-pushing spectacle. Kinnick has already played host to a number of surprising events in recent years, including record attendance for women’s basketball and outdoor wrestling. “Kinnick is more than a stadium, it is a stage for unforgettable moments,” stated athletic director Beth Goetz.
Mark your calendars for two summer evenings filled with trick plays, dancing umpires, laughter, and a crowd that isn’t just watching baseball but also taking part in the spectacle. These exhibition games aren’t your typical ones.
With a few crazy rules, lots of crowd interaction, and constant energy, Banana Ball is a high-octane variation of baseball that the Bananas play under. With whom will the Bananas face off? One of the league teams in the Banana Ball family, the Firefighters, will be their opponent.
The matches are always entertaining, with elements of competition and theater. Expect quirky rules like scoring by inning, no walks, trick plays, and yes — dancing pitchers or umpires. All of that adds to the allure. The announcement may have been most poignant when 8-year-old Hugh Harvey of Donahue, Iowa, made it. Harvey, a former patient at the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital, assisted in announcing the Iowa stop and was flown to Savannah for the major reveal.
The drama is added by Harvey’s story, which gives the spectacle genuine emotional weight through his battle with high-risk neuroblastoma, rigorous treatments, and eventual ringing of the “cancer-free” bell. The leadership of Iowa also capitalized on “The Wave,” one of their most cherished customs.
Young patients are housed in the stadium’s upper floors with views of the field because Kinnick is close to the Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Goetz and Barbara Wilson, president of the University of Iowa, stressed the importance of integrating the wave into the Bananas’ visit, transforming a crowd display into a time for fans and patients to connect.
Do you want to join? Tickets won’t simply go on sale. The Bananas have a lottery ticket system. To purchase tickets, fans must register on the Bananas’ website by midnight ET on October 31, 2025. Previous appearances in Iowa at locations like Principal Park sold out quickly, so don’t delay.
What is the lesson, then? This isn’t your average baseball game during the summer. For Iowa City, it’s a chance to present Kinnick in a fresh way and to conflate theater, sport, community, and compassion. Iowa brings tradition; the Bananas bring the circus. When you put them together, you have a summertime spectacle that no one will want to miss.
