Rhubarb on hot dogs, in beer, gelato and 2,500 slices of pie at Sumner’s annual street fest
There just wasn’t enough rhubarb at Rhubarb Days, according to feedback received by the Sumner Main Street Association, which organizes the city’s annual festival celebrating the tart pink stalks.
Vendors took the task to heart for the 2023 edition of the two-day event, June 24-25 in downtown Sumner, the self-proclaimed “rhubarb pie capital of the world.”
Knutson Farms has provided much of the rhubarb from its nearby fields, partnering with Farm 12 in Puyallup to bake an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 slices of rhubarb pie. The Sumner Cafe is also whipping up rhubarb crumble, all to be served by volunteers of the Sumner Rotary on Saturday and Sunday.
Also on the sweet side, snag a scoop of strawberry-rhubarb gelato from Valley Social’s new cart. On the savory side, try Starvin Marvin’s Rhubarb Dog — a hot dog with homemade cherry-rhubarb compote, sweet cream and candied cashews.
Top Down Brewing, voted one of Pierce County’s best breweries by TNT readers this spring, has been tasked for the second year in a row with the flagship beer. Sip the Rhubarb IPA and a specialty rhubarb cider made in collaboration with Shiloh Estates Cellars at the beer garden on Ryan Avenue and in the Top Down taproom on the eastern side of Main Street.
In honor of this renewed focus on the festival’s fruity inspiration, the Main Street Association is distributing balloons adorned with the words “Find Rhubarb Here.” Token rhubarb items or things the vendor deems to be “rhubarb red” don’t qualify, the organization said in an information packet this week.
As executive director Jeremy Mauck posited, if a customer saunters over to a booth and asks, “‘What rhubarb are you selling?’ Would they be satisfied with the answer? More than anything, we just don’t want to disappoint customers looking for rhubarb!”
Businesses throughout downtown will also have a stack of 2023 stickers with the motto “More Rhubarb Please!” to give away with a purchase.
The annual event is easily the city’s biggest, said Mauck, and after a couple of quieter years, it’s bigger than ever.
Around 140 street vendors will take over Main Street from about the train tracks east to Sumner Avenue, half of Ryan Avenue toward North Street and Kincaid Avenue toward Maple Street, as well as Cherry Avenue along Heritage Park (nearing the end of renovations).
More than 20 food trucks will be stationed in three locations: Heritage Park, Main Street and Ryan Avenue. Catch the Fisher Scones “wagon” outside A Good Book, where local author Jim Erickson will sign copies of his new book on the history of the famous Fair treat and the family behind it.
Other vendors — arts and crafts, clothing, kids goods, vintage wares and nonprofits among them — will line up everywhere in between, with stages for live music every hour on Main Street at the intersection with Ryan Avenue (next to the beer garden) and at the gazebo in Heritage Park until 3 p.m. Look for children’s games and an art booth here, too.
Tacoma Rainiers mascot Rhubarb the Reindeer will be on-site Saturday only around noon. In the same hour, Sumner High School’s choir, the Spartonix, will perform the “Rhubarb Song.”
On Sunday, catch the Puppy Parade starting at 9:45 a.m.
As if that’s not enough rhubarb for you, take home a complimentary seed packet.
According to geo-data culled from the 2022 event, said Mauck, Sumner anticipates up to 25,000 unique visitors to attend.
SUMNER RHUBARB DAYS 2023
▪ When: June 24-25, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
▪ Where: Downtown Sumner, Main Street and surrounding blocks from Heritage Park east to Sumner Ave.
▪ What: Annual two-day festival with rhubarb treats and trinkets, plus vendors a-plenty, a beer garden, 20+ food vendors and more
This story was originally published June 22, 2023 at 5:00 AM.