Harvest Fest welcomes fall

By Meghan Erkkinen

Fife Free Press
merkkinen@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: September 25, 2008

Fife’s annual Harvest Festival, to be held this year on Oct. 4, will be bigger and better than ever.

That means more of the classic Harvest Fest favorites, like food, children’s activities and vendor booths, and new choices as well.

“It is a fantastic and free family fun event at Dacca Park and all walks of life will enjoy at least one aspect of the festival,” said Fife Marketing Director Laurel Potter. “There’s just so much stuff going on all day.”

The Harvest Fest is a daylong event, kicking off with an early Fun Run 5K event, followed by a hearty pancake breakfast, both sponsored by the Fife-Milton Kiwanis. At 11 a.m., Fife residents and visitors can line 54th Street to watch a parade go through town and end at Dacca Park, formally kicking off the day’s events.

Throughout the late morning and afternoon, Dacca Park will be filled with a variety of food and vendor booths, children’s activities and wandering entertainers.

Evening festivities will begin with the first annual Chili Feed and Cook-Off, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Residents are invited to register for the cook-off event and bring their best chili to participate in the competition.

Two evening performances – which make up the Really Big Show – will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Columbia Junior High Performing Arts Center. The first entertainer will be Charlie Brown, a former Fly-ing Karamazov brother, who will make heads spin and bellies ache with his comedic juggling routine.

At 7:15 p.m., Professor Bamboozle will take the stage for his Grand Illusion show, which will mix humor, magic tricks, balloon artistry and karaoke in a performance appropriate for all ages.

“We were fortunate enough to get a lot of really big sponsors,” Potter said. “That enabled us to get a lot of things we didn’t have before, make the Really Big Show a little better, get higher caliber acts.”

The sponsorships have also allowed the city to expand its marketing into television and other untapped markets. Last year, the event attracted about 3,000 visitors, and this year organizers are hoping for more.

“We’ve definitely upped the marketing from what we did last year,” Potter said. “I definitely think it will be way bigger and better than last year.”

All of the events – with the exception of some of the Kiwanis events, which ask for donations – are free of charge.

For more information on the Harvest Festival or for a complete schedule of events, visit www.cityoffife.org.

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