SummerFest to include laser tag, big change to fun run
There will be six trophy categories for the annual car show on Saturday – Best Tuner Car, Best Pickup, Best Classic 1969-1979, Best Antique Before 1959, Best Late Model after 1979 and Best of Show. Registration will start at 8:30 a.m. at the US Bank parking lot, but there will be no entry fee.
ROYAL CITY — The Royal City SummerFest Committee has changed one event and made an addition to another that should add fun and excitement to the annual community festival the weekend of July 8-9.
The change is to the fun run, and it will be major. The former Saturday morning daylight event will be a Friday night glow run this year.
According to Committee member Leslie Fanning, the Family 5K Glow Run will depart Lions Park at 9:15 p.m. Upon return, or at about 10 p.m., the fireworks show will blast off.
The addition will be to the blowup carnival toys in the park on Saturday. Laser tag will be new this year. It will be covered by a $3 all-day arm band that will also cover bungee trampoline, 38-foot obstacle course, 16-foot double lane waterslide, funhouse castle, fire and ice slip and slide and mechanical bull.
“Have a mini-vacation July 8 and 9 right here in Royal City. This festival is full of fun,” Fanning said.
Starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, July 8, Cover Story, a local band, will fill the air with live music for “A Knight at the Beach,” this year’s festival theme.
“They are a great dance group and have promised some Beach Boys tunes that are fun listening,” Royal SummerFest Chairwoman Cara Hoyt said.
The annual Friday night BBQ will go from 6-8 p.m. Royal’s Got Talent will stage its acts during the band’s breaks. According to Kally Carter, Talent Search, there will be some fun surprise acts that you’ll not want to miss.
One is a Haka dance. The Haka is a traditional war cry, dance, or challenge of the Maori people of New Zealand. In modern times it is often done before athletic contests.
Entry fees for the Family 5K Glow Run will benefit the local food bank—and each entry will cover a dry-fit t-shirt. There will be prizes for the top finishers.
Saturday morning will start with the annual free breakfast served by the Royal Education Association and paid for by local business sponsors.
A 3-on-3 basketball tournament will kick off at 8 a.m. with a break for the parade, and resume after the parade.
A pet parade, new this year, and followed by the grand parade, will begin at 10 a.m. After the parade, the park will be a family fun paradise with vendors, food and children’s carnival toys.
“Blow-up toys have been a staple, and this year we have six, plus the laser tag,” Hoyt said. “One $3 armband allows the participant to play from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Need I say, it’s popular?”
Saturday afternoon the park will have the sounds of Mariachi music, action of dancing Andalusian horses, music on the stage, t-shirt tie dying and the annual ping pong drop.
A quilt and handiwork exhibition will celebrate its fourth year. The car show has been revived and is offering six classifications of prize recognition and door prizes.
At 6 p.m., the Royal City Public Golf Course will begin the first half of a glow ball tournament with nine holes, followed by a potluck, and then embark on the second nine holes with glow ball fun. The Moose will have an adult beer garden.