Summerfest takes to the streets on Sunday.
Downtown businesses are preparing for the year's biggest sidewalk sale, food fair and talent stage. Summerfest is a collection of family activities and popular entertainment wrapped in great merchant deals in the city's core.
This year, traffic is blocked on Quebec Street between 2nd Avenue and 5th Avenue. That zone will be for pedestrians only, allowing crowds to wander about looking for their favourite attractions: live fish pond, miniature train, inflatable bouncy features, karaoke, activities with Exploration Place and Two Rivers Art Gallery, and many more.
The event is the brainchild of the Downtown Business Improvement Association.
After a few years off to retool, this is the third consecutive year for the street extravaganza. According to DBIA president Rod Holmes, the public has taken on Summerfest as a favourite event on the city's annual calendar.
"Our first year back was very encouraging, then last year happened. Last year was a booming success," he said. "We made a couple of small changes, but based on last year we knew people really liked the format so all we could really do was book more entertainment and more food vendors. It's the people of Prince George who will make it bigger and better, we'll just do our darndest to give people what they've told us they like."
Food is one of the main attractions, at the food pavilion this year named in honour of the late Ted Moffat, one of the city's venerable entrepreneurs and downtown supporters who passed away in February at the age of 73.
Eighteen restaurants and cafes will set up shop under the big tent in the middle of the Summerfest activity and sell, at greatly-discounted prices, some signature dishes. Collectively, it is a demonstration of their individual culinary talents and spirit of togetherness in the energized Prince George food service industry in recent years.
"Last year, I remember there were food booths that sold out of their menu items and had to go back for substitute food, people loved it so much," Holmes said. "We learned about ticket lineups, because it was more popular last year than anyone realized it would be, so those lines will move quicker this year. We took some lessons from that."
The stage entertainment is also high-level. Prince George Idol winner Bryanna Davidson is one of the acts. She will share the billing with popular local bands Sound Addiction and Highball Riot, drumming duo Granville Johnson and Jeff Postnikoff, magician Clinton W. Gray, and the noon headliner is Sean Ashby (guitarist for Sarah McLachlan, Delerium, Jack Tripper, and other major acts).
"There's even fishing for the kids," said Holmes. "I think people really enjoy themselves at Summerfest, and we hope it shows a little bit of what downtown Prince George could look like all the time, as we work towards our goals for downtown."
This year has the added benefit of being on at the same time as the World Baseball Challenge on the outskirts of downtown, with only a slight overlap of the schedules. Families could use Summerfest as an appetizer before the ball games (3 p.m. and 7 p.m.). Also, many of the players and team officials from around the world could well be among the participants on the upbeat sidewalks, so Summerfest will be an ambassadorial moment for elite athletes from faraway lands.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Most of the sights and sounds are free, charges apply for some features (food pavilion tickets are available in advance, to beat the Sunday lineups).
For more information, call the DBIA office at 250.613.2294, visit them at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Brunswick Street, or log on to www.downtownpg.com.
