EVERETT — A little scaled back and after 18 years on hiatus, Salty Sea Days returns to Everett this weekend.
The long-running summer festival was an annual multi-weekend gathering that featured a waterfront carnival, fireworks and a downtown parade in June. Its last season was in 2004, when the City Council stopped awarding it $70,000 from hotel tax money and the organizing group disbanded.
When Madison Vazquez joined the Downtown Everett Association as its marketing manager almost five years ago, people often asked about the festival’s fate.
“Once every few months, someone would go, ‘Hey are you guys going to bring back Salty Sea Days?’” Vazquez said.
Larry O’Donnell, a lifelong Everett resident and local historian, remembered going with his wife and children. The carnival usually took over Port of Everett waterfront property near the 10th Street boat launch, and the parade on Colby Avenue had school marching bands and was larger than the Independence Day parade, he said. He also recalled a team tug-of-war competition perennially dominated by Everett firefighters who “were virtually unbeatable.”
“I just recall that it was a really neat community event,” O’Donnell said.
Now the Downtown Everett Association, a nonprofit business group , is resurrecting the long-dormant festival as a two-day block party Friday and Saturday.
A beer garden, children’s activities including a 40-foot inflatable obstacle course, , live music and vendors will take over two blocks along Colby Avenue between Everett Avenue and Hewitt Avenue.
Admission is free. Food and drinks will cost money.
“We’re keeping activities free that we’re hosting,” Vazquez said. “We just want people to come out and have fun.”
The Downtown Everett Association is spending about $40,000 on this year’s event.
Salty Sea Days begins at 4 p.m. Friday and concludes with a drag show on the music stage at 6 p.m. The festival resumes noon Saturday until 10 p.m.
Cakes, cookies, cotton candy, ice cream, kettle corn and mini donuts will be for sale both days near the children’s activities between California and Hewitt avenues. El Mariachi Birria will serve food Saturday.
Other vendors are set to sell art, plants, toys and more. Health care, social and service groups such as the American Cancer Society, Dawson’s Place Child Advocacy Center, Everett Elks Lodge No. 479 and Snohomish County CASA also will participate.
The Everett Music Initiative, the group that puts on The Fisherman’s Village Music Festival, booked six musical performances noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, starting with DJ Sundance Kidd and closing with The Grizzled Mighty.
The event needs volunteers to serve drinks in the beer garden and supervise the obstacle course, especially Saturday. Anyone interested can contact Vazquez at madison.miller@downtowneverettwa.org and 425-258-0700 ext. 102 or sign up online at downtowneverettwa.org/salty-sea-days.
Ben Watanabe: 425-339-3037; bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @benwatanabe.
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