‘Busy, busy, busy’

MOSES LAKE — Springfest is back.

Moses Lake’s biggest community celebration returns after a two-year hiatus prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Spring Festival will include a parade, a carnival, a car show, 3-on-three basketball, a lip-sync contest, oodles of local entertainment and free concerts by several well-known country musicians.

“We have sold the most presale (carnival) tickets ever,” said board member Lori Valdez. “Our carnival is going to be busy, busy, busy.”

The festivities kick off at 3 p.m. today at McCosh Park. The carnival opens at 4 p.m., with armbands priced at two-for-one today only. There’s a hot dog eating contest at 8 p.m., and the lip-sync contest at 8:30.

Chris Janson will take the stage Friday at 8:30 p.m. Janson, who released his fourth album “All In” last month, was inducted in 2018 as the youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry, according to his media bio. There is no charge for the concert.

There’s a whole lot going on Saturday. The car show will line Dogwood Street with classic vehicles and the stage at the Centennial Amphitheater will host one homegrown entertainer after another, including dance troupes, singers and magic. The 3-on-3 basketball tournament will get underway at 10 a.m., with 77 teams registered, according to board president Sean Sallis.

The kiddie parade starts at 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by the Grand Moonlight Parade at 8 p.m. The evening will be capped off with the movie “Sing 2” shown at the Centennial Amphitheater. In years past the movie was shown on Thursday night, but moving it to Saturday will give folks somewhere to go after the parade, Sallis said, and hopefully lessen the traffic of people leaving the downtown area.

Sunday morning the 3-on-3 basketball tournament will continue at Third Avenue. There will be a cornhole tournament in the afternoon at McCosh Park and country music performances in the evening by Priscilla Block at 5 p.m. and Colt Ford at 7 p.m.

The pandemic was hard on the festival because where other non-profits received COVID-19 relief funds, the Spring Festival got none, Valdez said. The money from the city’s lodging tax was a huge help, she added.

Sallis expressed appreciation for the community members who sponsored the festival, and for in-kind donations the event had received.

“I think this is what makes the community special. We’ve got the fairgrounds and the Downtown Moses Lake Association and the Parks and Rec Department, and we’re all just working together,” he said. “That’s what makes our community so great.”