A town celebrates: Royal City turns out in force for Summerfest
The Royal City Summerfest crowd swarms the street to collect candy and goodies thrown out by the Columbia Basin Health Association on Saturday.
Sam Fletcher/Columbia Basin Herald
Miss Sunnyside Queen Abigael Marquez, left, and Princess Kaydience Porter are on a Wizard of Oz float at the Royal City Summerfest parade on Saturday.
Ballerinas from Dance FX in Moses Lake perform for the first time in more than a year at the Royal City Summerfest on Saturday.
Grant County Fire District 10 cools off the crowd at the Royal City Summerfest parade on Saturday.
The Seattle Cossacks Motorcycle Stunt and Drill Team forms a pyramid at the Royal City Summerfest on Saturday.
Former Royal City Police Chief Darin Smith and his wife, Angie Smith, were the grand marshals at the Royal City Summerfest parade on Saturday.
When the Royal City Summerfest team received approval from the city, they had just four weeks to put the event together.
It was “all hands on deck,” said festival co-director Tiffany Workinger.
The two-day festival was packed with events, games, shows, vendors and more. All things considered, it all came together really well, she said.
But cancel scares persisted all the way to the week of, she said.
“We had one entry to the car show on Wednesday,” she said. “Now look. There’s 45 cars.”
On Tuesday, organizers thought they might have to cancel the parade, she said, but it worked out, and it was “awesome.”
Royal City police kicked off the parade Saturday morning, while DJ Dale Roth played summer classics. It was fitting, as this year’s grand marshals were retired Police Chief Darin Smith and his wife, Angie Smith.
The fire department followed, with sirens and hoses blazing, cooling off the crowd with water.
A number of special appearances came next: Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake; Rep. Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy; and Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake.
Miss Rodeo Othello Brianna Kinkaid rode in on her horse, and Miss Sunnyside Queen Abigael Marquez and Princess Kaydience Porter rolled by on a sparkling Wizard of Oz float.
Car lovers were represented too, of course. A Mach 1 Mustang, a 1932 Ford Model B and a 1954 Buick were sprinkled throughout the line before parking for the car show.
New team members after the 2020 festival hiatus brought new ideas, Workinger said. The 2021 festival had more inflatable games, vendors and food trucks than ever before.
Shaded by Lions Park’s sycamore canopy, festival goers mazed through near-endless treasures: a dunk tank, stage performances, a car show, a story barn. Really, every bit of lawn had something new to see and experience.
Co-director Carley Smith’s favorite part was the glow run, she said. Friday night, contestants donned glowstick jewelry for a 5K run in the night, with all the proceeds going to local and national suicide awareness and prevention organizations.
For Workinger, it was the ping-pong ball drop, she said. In the field behind the park, a crop duster flew low on Saturday and rained ping-pong balls for kids to collect.
Every ball wins a prize, she said, from hoverboards and scooters to chalk and bubbles.
The weekend was a great return to festivities, she said.
“There’s only five of us that do the meetings, but there are a lot of people that help throughout in different ways,” she said. “It’s impossible to thank them all, because there’s so many, but just a huge thank you to the community for all the help and just for coming out and participating.”
