LAKE STEVENS — The city’s largest annual event is this weekend, and this year’s Hollywood-inspired theme brings new competitions and activities to the packed three-day schedule.
Aquafest starts Friday at 10 a.m. and continues until about 5 p.m. Sunday. Dozens of events are scattered over the weekend: a morning waterski tournament, an afternoon parade, evening music and movies. Most of the festivities are downtown near North Cove Park or within walking distance along Main Street. People can park at Lake Stevens High School and catch a shuttle downtown every 15 minutes.
The summer festival has been a Lake Stevens tradition for 55 years and draws hundreds of people every July. This year, coordinators are going for glitz and glamour with a “Lights! Camera! Aquafest!” theme.
To go with the theme, they launched the first “Aquafest’s Got Talent” competition. Auditions and preliminary rounds were held earlier this month and finalists will dance or sing for the top spot at 10 a.m. Sunday at North Cove Park.
Also new this year are a 200-meter stand-up paddleboard race, team volleyball tournament and human foosball. In human foosball, players take positions in an area arranged to look like a foosball board and try to get a ball into the opposite team’s goal by moving in rows side-to-side — like foosball figurines — and kicking the ball through the rows of opponents.
“It’s a hoot,” said Janice Huxford, president of the Aquafest Executive Board. “And it’s for all ages.”
She also expects the stand-up paddleboarding event to be a hit. The sport is growing in popularity and Lake Stevens offers one of the only festivals in the area where lake races are an option, she said.
Entering competitions like the boat show, car show and land or water races at Aquafest cost money. The rest of the events, including live music, movies and human foosball, are free. There also will be a smash-a-car activity where people can donate two cans of food or $2 to the Lake Stevens Food Bank for a turn at smashing an old car to smithereens.
In line with the “Lights! Camera! Aquafest!” theme, signed memorabilia will be on display from actor Chris Pratt, the Lake Stevens native and leading man starring in this summer’s blockbuster “Jurassic World” and last year’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”.
The free movie by the lake Friday night is “The Lego Movie” in which Pratt voices the main character. It’s “a nod to our local boy,” she said.
During the day, there will be a Hollywood backdrop where people can take photos, and a Taste of Lake Stevens event featuring locally made treats, Huxford said.
On Saturday night, the annual Aquafest fireworks display is being dedicated to Robert Marshall, a longtime Lake Stevens fire marshal who died of heart problems in March at age 62.
Though the festival gets bigger each year, it remains a locally-driven event, Huxford said. Supplies are paid for through sponsorships from local businesses and the festivities are run by an all-volunteer crew. It took a team of businesses, churches, homeowners associations, school and city employees and volunteers to put this year’s festival together, she said. Organizers did their best to include something for everyone.
“This is the one time all of these groups come together for Lake Stevens,” Huxford said. “It’s just a three-day party.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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