With free concerts, a car show, entertainment from Radio Disney and plenty of food, drink, displays and booths, Bothell’s ninth annual RiverFest is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in downtown Bothell between Main and Northeast 185th streets.
“RiverFest is the perfect way to celebrate the end of summer,” said City of Bothell Public Information Officer Joyce Goedeke. “With the city’s centennial this year, we have the opportunity to celebrate 100 years of community spirit and show it off at this event.”
Although the main RiverFest schedule has been announced previously, Goedeke said one last-minute addition is an appearance by the Seattle Seahawks “Blue Thunder” drumline scheduled for around noon.
Radio Disney is making its first appearance at RiverFest. The kid-oriented radio station will bring dancers and performers, set up their promotions booth and give out prizes and promo items from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
Not new to the festival is the Grater Bothell Chamber of Commerce Craft and Merchant Market. The chamber’s Laura Wilson said the chamber leased all 50 available spaces for the market, which will feature artisan, food and merchant booths. Wilson added one-third of the spaces went to local businesses.
As for food, Wilson mentioned new local restaurant Carolina Smoke will have a booth, while other venders will feature the usual fair-type fare including elephant ears, hot dogs, kettle corn and baked potatoes.
The Craft and Merchants market will spring up on Northeast 183rd Street.
The city did not release an exact time, but as part of Bothell’s centennial celebration, officials will place a Centennial Time Capsule in a space near the front of Bothell’s police headquarters, 18410 101st Ave. N.E.
Put together by City Council earlier this year, the capsule includes numerous items related to the city’s 100th anniversary, including a copy of the Landmark Preservation Board’s pictorial history of the city, “Bothell: Then and Now.”
Other items items in the capsule include a current city recreation calendar, banners from the University of Washington, Bothell and Cascadia Community College, along with memory books from the two years the Bothell High School Cougars made the state football playoffs. The capsule is scheduled to be opened in 2059.
Other highlights of RiverFest include:
• The car show sponsored by Brooks Biddle Chevrolet will take place on Main, featuring a few cars from the lot, but also many different types of classic cars, show quality vehicles, “muscle” cars and so on.
• Free inflatable fun houses and amusements for the kids will go up on 101st Avenue Northeast.
• For the gastronomically adventurous, a pie-eating contest gets under way at 12:30 p.m. at the corner of 101st Avenue and Northeast 183rd Street.
• Two free concerts are planned for 1 p.m. on 101st Avenue. Bands include the Afrodisiacs and the Spazmatics.
• The city will set up what it is billed as Bothell Show and Tell, a city and local resource fair to be held at City Hall, 18305 101st Ave. In somewhat the same vein, again on 101st Avenue, a Hobby and Volunteer Expo will feature local nonprofit organizations and clubs.
“The purpose of the Expo is to provide a venue where community members of all ages can discover local clubs, hobby groups and service organizations in which to join or volunteer,” Goedeke said.
Road closures connected with RiverFest include Main Street between state routes 522/577 to 102nd Avenue. As is the case with most other streets, Main closes at 7 a.m. and reopens at 4 p.m.
Other closures have 101st Avenue shut down from Main to Northeast 185th Street; and, Northeast 183rd Street from 102nd Avenue Northeast to 101st.
The city will close Northeast 183rd Street from SR 527 to 101st Avenue from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Except for items purchased from food and merchants booths, RiverFest is free to the public, Goedeke said.
For more information go to the city’s Web site at www.ci.bothell.wa.us or call the Parks and Recreation Department at (425) 486-7430.
