ROYAL CITY — Between 1,500 and 2,000 people braved the hot weather in Royal City on Friday and Saturday for Summerfest 2023, according to Summerfest Committee Chairman Jonathan Cox.

“There was a good amount of people there throughout the whole event,” Coix said. “I think there was a little bit for everybody, meaning we get a different crowd out multiple times. Different people come to different events.”

The two-day celebration began Friday with a car show in the park, as well as a “Run Down Memory Lane” fun run. Friday evening finished off with a fireworks show. Saturday included a parade in the morning, then a ping pong ball drop in the afternoon and a performance by banda group Paso Firme in the evening.

Both days included mutton bustin’, a rodeo-like event in which small children try to ride sheep, inflatables that kids could purchase a wristband to bounce on and craft and food vendors. In the past, Friday’s schedule included a barbecue in the park, Cox said, but this year that was replaced by a much larger variety of food vendors.

“I think there was some hesitancy in the early stages with us not doing the barbecue and people were concerned,” Cox said. “We changed it up and I think having the vendors there was great. It gave a lot more food choices to the people that came and it gives the vendors an opportunity to get their products out there. I think that was well received.”

The inflatables were a hit with the smaller children in particular, said committee member Claire Grenada, who was attaching wristbands to little wrists as quickly as she could.

“I have no idea (how many were sold),” she said. “I lost count after three. I had so many lined up, I didn't know how to keep up.”

Besides the food vendors, there were booths selling jewelry, clothing and other merchandise, and informational booths from organizations around the community.

The Royal City Friends of the Library were set up in the park, kicking off their Library by the Foot fundraiser to fund the new library building. That program allows patrons to sponsor a square foot of the new building for $100.

“For every $100 we put a sticker on the board and that shows our progress to raising the rest of the money for the new library,” said Friends of the Library President Susan Piercy. “We're small but determined, so we're gonna get it done. It's gonna happen.”

“It’s getting closer and closer every day,” agreed fellow Friend of the Library Alba Trail.

The Royal Ranchers 4-H group was out as well, selling much-needed bottled water and juice under the blazing sun to raise money for new T-shirts and new barn decorations for upcoming county fairs.

“It just adds, I guess, that little extra flair to the barn as people are walking through checking out animals,” said Royal Rancher Rayce Eilers.

One unusual feature was the ping pong ball drop, where a small plane flew over and jettisoned a load of ping pong balls in the vacant field adjacent to the park. Kids dashed out into the field in its wake and scooped up balls to exchange for prizes.

The Royal City community kicked in when it was all over, coming out on Sunday to clean up the park, Cox said.

“Liberty Livestock 4-H group came out with members of the Royal High football team,” he said. “I was a little nervous for that. But we got the whole part cleaned up in about 45 minutes because we had such a tremendous amount of people there.”

Because the committee was made up of all new volunteers, Cox said, there were a few lessons they learned on the fly and a few changes to make next year. Mutton bustin’ turned out to be more popular than anticipated, he said, so next year they’ll try to have more seating available for spectators.

There’s one more change Cox said needed to be made as well.

“Next year, I think the biggest thing we need to figure out is if we can tweak the weather, so it's not as hot,” he said.

Joel Martin may be reached via email at [email protected]. Find more of his work on the Columbia Basin Herald App.