Summerfest draws crowds to Royal City

ROYAL CITY — Any way you measure it, Summerfest was a success. 

“I would say on Friday we had over 2,500 people, and then after the parade Saturday, we had over 3,000 people in the park,” said Summerfest Committee Chair Jill Larsen. 

That’s more than the population of the town, she added, which was about 1,900 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census. 

The weather was its usual blistering self, but not as hot as last year, Larsen said.  

“Nobody complained as much, and everybody found a way to cool off,” she said. “We had lots of snow cones and ice cream in the park.” 

The Royal City Police Department had a dunk tank set up to raise funds for its K-9 unit, and the park was filled with bouncy toys, a bungee trampoline, and a rock-climbing wall. All that fun was available to children for the cost of a $3 wristband. The vendors in the park were all from the Royal City area, Larsen said, except for one food vendor from Basin City. 

“But we have a great affinity between the two communities,” she said, “so we kind of count him as one of our own.” 

The Headlights and Summer Nights Car Show was a popular item Friday, and not just for the classic vehicles, Larsen said.  

“What I noticed about the car show is it’s a way for people to mingle and run into each other and have conversations with people they haven’t seen in a couple of years, or even a couple of months,” she said. 

Friday night finished with a fun run, followed by fireworks in the park. The Grand Parade Saturday morning featured the Dancing Horses, a Royal City tradition. This year’s contingent included more than 95 horses, Larsen said.  

Royal City’s annual July blowout began life as Royal City Community Days, and changed its name in 2003, according to the Columbia Basin Herald archives. Larsen wasn’t sure when the festival began, but there are photos of it from the late 1970s or early ’80s, she said. It’s enough of a staple in Royal City’s calendar that family and class reunions tend to gravitate to that weekend, she said. 

“If people are thinking of coming home to Royal City, a lot of times they plan it around Summerfest,” Larsen said. “And we really appreciate that, because then we get people who grew up here and then moved away … We live in a small town, but sometimes, if they live on the other side of the slope, you don't have the chance to see them all year. And this is the one time of year that people can see their friends and neighbors that they would love to run into and talk to.” 

    The Dancing Horses, a Royal City tradition, brought more than 95 riders to Summerfest this year.
  

    A young marksman prepares to take down Royal City Poilce Chief Rey Rodriguez in the Summerfest dunk tank. The tank was a fundraiser for the RCPD’s K-9 officer, and with temperatures near 100, the dunking wasn’t so bad.
  

    Fireworks decorate the sky above the Headlights and Summer Nights Car Show in Royal City July 11.