Spring Festival organizers plan future, celebrate success

MOSES LAKE — As anyone who was downtown — or in McCosh Park, or played three-on-three, or went to one of the concerts, or ran in the fun run, or walked in the parade - can attest, the 2024 Moses Lake Spring Festival packed them in. In fact, there was so much going on the organizers were thinking about ways to accommodate more growth in the future.

Spring Festival committee chair Sean Sallis said participation was as high or higher than ever in most events. The three-on-three basketball tournament drew 121 teams; the annual parade had 61 entries and committee member Lori Valdez said about 90 vendors set up shop in McCosh Park.

“I even had a (vendor) waiting list,” Valdez said. 

About 472 people took to the streets for Saturday morning’s fun run.

“Their goal was to hit 500. They came close,” she said. 

Those events and the three concerts drew substantial crowds. The crowds for the three concerts were big enough that they were in danger of outgrowing the venue in the park, Valdez said.

“The largest crowd I’ve seen for a while,” Sallis said.

Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce Director Debbie Doran-Martinez said it’s too early to analyze 2024 attendance, but Chamber officials have reviewed some data from 2023. 

“(Spring Festival) basically increased our population during that time to over 50,000 in the city limits,” Doran-Martinez said.

Many attendees were from out of town, she said, drawn by the concerts and events. The money generated by big events helps business owners survive during those times of the year when there’s less going on, Doran-Martinez said.

Such a big event requires a lot of support, and Sallis said organizers got that support from city officials and staff, business owners and organizations. 

The Moses Lake High School cross-country team put on the fun run, Valdez said, with the proceeds going to their efforts to raise money for a meet in Hawaii. The Moses Lake Rotary chapter assisted with organizing the parade.

“That was a huge help,” Sallis said.

The city’s public works department put out and took down barriers; the Moses Lake Fire Department assisted at the concerts. Moses Lake Police Department officers were out in force, often on bicycles, during the parade and in McCosh Park. The parks saw some disturbances in 2023, Sallis said, but that was much less of a problem in 2024. 

“We can’t say enough about our police department,” Sallis said. 

A sponsor provided radios, which improved communication, Sallis said, and a $10,000 grant from the city’s tourism committee allowed the park to be set up for wifi. Another sponsor has already volunteered assistance for the parade in 2025, Valdez said. 

However, the Spring Festival may have reached the size where the seven-member committee and the people that help run events, all volunteers, will have to be supplemented with paid staff, Sallis and Valdez said. Setup and running the festival kept people busy from the Tuesday prior to the festival through the following Monday, Memorial Day. 

“We need lots of people,” Valdez said. “There’s always something for somebody to do.”

The basketball tournament features a “championship court,” which hosts the finals of each division. 

“It was so cool and the kids loved it,” Sallis said.

“Now we want bleachers,” Valdez said.

The 2024 music lineup included Quiet Riot and Slayer on Friday night, with Color Me Badd and All-4-One on Sunday. Sallis said the Sunday concert was highlighted by a marriage proposal, with the couple dancing to a live version of “I Swear.”

Even though there’s a lot of work involved, the organizers are looking for other events that could be added to the schedule, if enough people can be found to help run them. 

“We’d love to have a volleyball tournament,” Valdez said. “We want to bring back the bed races. We just aren’t able to do that.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Moses Lake City Manager and Spring Festival grand marshal Kevin Fuhr, right, was recognized in a pre-parade ceremony.
  

    Jacob Guertin of Freewind Martial Arts demonstrated his skills along the parade route.
  

    A pair of Vikings - actually part of the crew on the Sons of Norway float - check for plunder possibilities prior to the parade.
  

    A Moses Lake firefighter hands out candy on the Spring Festival parade route.