If you’re getting the sense that summers are busy around here, you’re probably on to something.
Weekend in and weekend out, Valley communities make the most of the handful of sunny days by stacking community festivals, sporting and arts events from late June to early autumn.
Starting with longtime favorites like Fall City Days and the Festival at Mount Si, the list of events has grown in recent years to encompass new forms of recreation.
The Valley has an event for everyone. Do you enjoy classical music? North Bend just welcomed the first-ever Snoqualmie Valley Festival of Music. Are you a dog lover? Snoqualmie City Council recently approved Doggiestock, a festival aimed at families, for its second-year run at Centennial Fields. The council took a hard look at what dozens of dogs might do to a park meant to be a ballfield, but ended up voting unanimously in favor of allowing the trial run of the pet-themed party in the park, which is promoted as a place for big community events.
Festivals draw more than just locals. Weekend events give travelers and metro residents a reason to stop, shop and dine in the Valley, boosting our tourism-based economy. Folks can afford a day trip more easily these days than an overnighter.
The role of Valley events was underlined this month, when Port of Seattle Commissioner Bill Bryant approached the Snoqualmie City Council in an effort to connect with Valley communities. Bryant called on locals to do more to draw tourists up and out of Seattle.
What do visitors to the Port of Seattle have to do with you and me, all the way up here in the Cascade foothills? Plenty, it turns out. Cruise ships docking at the Seattle piers disgorge visitors who spend close to the tune of a million dollars annually. Increase the amount of time that they spend in the region, and you increase their positive impact on the economy.
That’s why it’s good to see how the Northwest Railway Museum, which took over Snoqualmie Railroad Days a few years ago, and folks like the Legends Car Club and Run Snoqualmie founder Sean Sundwall, are fostering a local sense of community and giving visitors new reasons to come here—and hopefully, a desire to return.
While summer itself is ending soon, the community festivals aren’t through yet. Consider checking out the Valley’s next few offerings.
First up is the Aug. 28 Snoqualmie Plein Air Paint Out, where visitors can view watercolor artists in action at locales including the historic train depot and the Falls.
The Boeing Classic is also drawing fans of top golf action through Sunday, Aug. 29, at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.
Then, Doggiestock is Saturday, Sept. 18, at Snoqualmie’s Centennial Fields Park. The day includes food, vendors and outdoor concerts, all as a benefit for Valley Animal Partners’ pet spay program.
E-mail Editor Seth Truscott at editor@valleyrecord.com.
