KENT – The Kent Chamber of Commerce is hosting a new event to celebrate spring and the beauty of Kent at this time of year. Springfest will be held May 4 from noon to 6 p.m. and there will be a wide variety of activities for all ages.
“Spring is such a beautiful time in Kent to celebrate,” said Phil Fox, president of the Kent Chamber of Commerce.
“The Champagne Stroll is defunct. It had a heyday and came back down. So we wanted to reinvent that and incorporate the two together,” he said of the evening event previously held on Thanksgiving weekend from 2013-2019. It attracted over 1,000 people to town. “A lot of people bought the tickets, which was great, but a lot of people were just getting drunk.”
Fox said the Chamber sees its job as not limited to commerce but also to bringing people to town to enjoy what is offered. The organization has also expanded its membership to include 38 non-profits, so they want their events to help those groups as well.
The Spring Fest tickets are $25 and $5 of the price will be donated to the Kent Food Bank. Those age 21 and older can participate in the Sip and Stroll portion from 3 to 6 p.m., which will offer a variety of libations, including wine, champagne, Prosecco, tropical drinks, as well as mocktails and other non-alcoholic options, served at least at 20 different locations.
“Most of the Main Street businesses are participating, as well as many on Kent Green and Kent Barns,” said Fox. There will also be light snacks.
“The idea is not to do meals because we want to drive business to the restaurants.” The Chamber hopes that once the event’s done at 6 p.m., people will say, “Let’s have dinner.”
Live music will be offered at several different locations. The art galleries have openings throughout the town.
Discounts will be offered at different stores. Non-profits have been invited to set up a table/booth at the Golden Falcon field on Main Street. This will also be where registration will happen and those age 21 and older, who are participating in the Sip and Stroll, will be able to pick up their bracelets.
Some of the activities that have been planned so far are making a chocolate bar at 45 on Main; a grill event at Ace Hardware; Kent Greenhouse is holding a succulent class; Trades Up (which is the new name for the former Touch a Trade organization) will hold a carpentry class for children; and Dow Integrative Health will be instructing how to heal dogs with touch.
The Chamber wants this to be a family-friendly event, Fox said. Activities are still being added and details are published online.
