Community invited to upcoming Valleyfest
Valleyfest has been coming together for 15 years to provide our community with a free celebration for children and families in the Spokane Valley. During these 15 years, we have made changes in events, volunteers and activities but none as exciting as this year’s change, moving the site from Terrace View Park to Mirabeau Meadows Park, the newest park in the city of Spokane Valley.
This change was made after much discussion and thought with our board, volunteers, supporters and local community leaders. Valleyfest 2003 was very successful with the participation, the number of people attending and the fun that everyone appeared to be having.
However, we had grown out of the space and infrastructure. Our wonderful parade was very hard to disperse in a safe manner at the park. Parking, street congestion, traffic flow from the major highways and power sources are some of the concerns that organizers who work with the festival hope to address by the move to Mirabeau Meadows.
Our neighbors and friends in the neighborhood around Terrace View Park and along the parade route have made Valleyfest so successful. We thank you for your support and wonderful memories. We invite you to come to our new site and parade route; your enthusiasm for Valleyfest is important to our success.
Our volunteers, supporters and community are working together to make this a fun event that will bring our community together, and invite those who live outside the Spokane Valley to stay and play with us.
Events
•Valleyfest Pancake Fun Run will be on the Centennial Trail from the Sullivan Road trailhead to Mirabeau Meadows Park. This run will be about 11/2 miles and starts at 8 a.m.
•Pancake Breakfast will be at the park from 8 to 11 a.m. This is a fund-raiser for the Valleyfest Foundation, which assists children in our community.
•Our Really Big Parade will begin at 9 a.m. Dr. Seuss on Parade is the theme for this year’s parade. We hope to see many children and families who wish to dress as a who, what, or it in the parade.
•Mirabeau Meadows will have arts and crafts booths, nonprofit booths and commercial booths with free activities for children, two entertainment stages and family activities scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the park
•Tuxedo Junction will be the closing act from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Main stage.
•The Spokane Valley YMCA, adjacent to the park, will be open to the community and there will be teen activities at the skate park.
•Juried art show is a new addition in the park.
•We have a new parade route that will leave from University City North, head north on University and east on Mission to disperse at Mission Park. This route will have a large staging area and dispersement area. We were not able to have the parade end at the park because of the two railroad lines. Please look for the maps that will be in the newspaper closer to the event. We even have parking areas for the parade route. Usually, we have lots of candy for those watching the parade.
•Shuttle services: Spokane Transit Authority will be providing shuttle buses from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. We have the big buses that run every 15 minutes from several locations. Spokane Valley Mall perimeter ring will have STA shuttle signs (10) that will allow you to park at the mall and grab the shuttle to the park.
Pinecroft Business Park to the west of the Park will have the same shuttle service, also with marked stops. Across Pines Road, Mirabeau Chapel has given permission for parking. The trail is open for those wishing to ride bikes or walk to the park.
STA is able to provide this free service because of a grant from the Washington State 2003 budget.
•Sept. 26, the Friends of the Centennial Trail, will have its Trailsfest from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Centennial Trail, which is across from Mirabeau Meadows.
This event would not be possible without the financial support and donations from the community. We have large donors and small donors to Valleyfest. All these contributions — monetary, in-kind or products — are needed to make this event work. Please act on your Vision Alive appeal letters for this year. We still need your help.
The volunteers from Valleyfest invite you all to a really good time at a really big site, with lots of fun activities some familiar and some new. Welcome to you all from the 26 Valleyfest volunteers who are working many hours to make this year’s event fun and successful!