Text Box: History of the Sumner Arts Festival The Sumner Summer Arts Festival, with its hometown feel and dedication to quality, handmade arts and crafts is one of the premier arts festivals in the Northwest. The festival, located in charming downtown Sumner, Washington, is held on the first Friday and Saturday of August. The Arts Festival originally began in 1973 as a sidewalk sale. Tony Strozyk, the owner of a general store in downtown Sumner, started this sidewalk sale. During the first couple of years, more and more merchants began to join the sale; and it was decided to make this an event to draw people to see downtown Sumner. So the Sumner Summer Festival Committee was formed as a non-profit group drawing the members from the local community. The addition of artists to the event was a mainstay from the time the event was expanded. The idea of the artists was to bring talented people with quality merchandise to the festival. The items needed to be produced by the artist and no commercial items were allowed, a commitment that continues to the present. Artists must submit their work to a panel and be approved before being allowed into the festival. Items are evaluated on creativity and quality; they must be different than other items currently being sold by other artists. Over the years, many other events were held in conjunction with the Festival. A carnival was held for many years, at first in downtown and later at Sumner High School. There used to be bingo played on Friday and Saturday nights and the women’s group held a salmon bake. For a couple of years, a musical was held, with some of the committee members helping to produce and perform the show. Each show had a dress rehearsal, for which tickets were sold to business and community people as a fund raiser. A couple of the shows included “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Camelot”. Also one year a competition was held called “Anything Goes” and was held at Sumner Stadium. Groups of people competed in events such as tricycle racing and tickets were sold to attend the games. Current events held at the Festival include live music and street entertainers. On Friday night, there is a watermelon feed, and a pancake breakfast is held each morning. Because of the watermelon feed, the logo of a watermelon has become a tradition for the Festival. A unique feature to the Festival is the concessions. The concessions are provided by non-profit groups that reside within the Sumner School District area. This commitment to the local community allows these groups to earn money and maintain programs that benefit the people of Sumner. Each year, any extra money earned by the Festival was donated to help Sumner. Over the years, money has been donated to the local Daffodil Float Committee and has paid for the murals along the buildings in downtown. Every year, money was given to Sumner Promotions, a group comprised mainly of merchants that promotes the Sumner area. This money was used to help upgrade downtown Sumner and improve the appearance and appeal of the area. The Festival is a favorite of many artists, who enjoy the consistent quality of artwork allowed at the Festival. Even more important is the special treatment the artists receive, including the watermelon, the pancake breakfast, iced tea and lemonade provided to them by the Festival. Each year two artists are recognized, one for the best art booth and the other for the best craft booth. One of the best sources of new artists come from recommendations of artists that have been at the Festival for many years. With a lively atmosphere and a hometown feel, each year the Festival draws many people, both from the area and from outside of it to see the wide range of activities and artists. The goal of the Festival has been and will continue to be to bring these people to the city of Sumner with a quality and fun festival and encourage them to return to downtown Sumner at a later date. Special thanks to Jane Dockery, Ron Hyland and Sharon Taylor for their time and information.