Tacoma July 4 event will have new name, footprint. Freedom Fair, airshow going elsewhere
Tacoma’s annual Fourth of July celebration has a new name and new managers.
Festivals Inc. was selected to organize T-Town Family 4th, the City of Tacoma and Metro Parks announced in a press release earlier this month.
Festivals Inc. is an Issaquah-based company that’s produced more than 100 events over the past 38 years, including the Taste of Tacoma and Oktoberfest Northwest.
“Free community festivals like The Taste of Tacoma and T-Town Family 4th bring together the Tacoma community with great food, lively entertainment and the creation of lasting memories for those who attend,” Festivals Inc. president Brett Gorrell said about the company’s selection. “Our team is looking forward to bringing a revamped celebration of family, patriotism and community to Tacoma.”
The annual Fourth of July event, held along Ruston Way, drew about 120,000 visitors for its 40th year last year. Military jets also made their first appearance since 2012 to conduct an air show.
This year, visitors can expect the usual fireworks show, vendors and live entertainment at the event, which falls on a Saturday. According to the T-Town Family 4th website, which launched Friday, the fireworks show will start at 10:10 p.m. Vendor applications are now open.
The announcement comes six months after Metro Parks released a request for proposal (RFP) for the event. For the first time, the city partnered with Metro Parks to help produce it.
The RFP outlined a draft event footprint farther north, encompassing the new Dune Peninsula Park, Cummings Park and Ruston Way between the Lobster Shop at 4105 Ruston Way and Point Ruston. Previously, the event took place on Ruston Way from McCarver Street in Old Town to the Lobster Shop.
Phedra Redifer, regional parks manager for Metro Parks, assured that while the footprint is expanding north, it spans from Old Town to Dune Peninsula, “all along Ruston Way.” The event will start at the Les Davis Pier next to Duke’s Seafood, Gorrell said.
Festivals Inc. was the only company to apply for the RFP, Redifer said.
The contract with Festivals Inc. stipulates that adjustments to the event’s footprint can be made up until 90 days before the event. The contract also provides Festivals Inc. with $65,000 in cash, primarily for the fireworks show, in addition to in-kind fire and police services. Festivals Inc. is selling sponsorship and vendor space to cover the costs to produce the event, as is typical with other events.
The contract could extend to 2021 and 2022, if Festivals Inc. has “satisfactorily” produced the event.
Changes stir controversy
The decision to put the Fourth of July event out as an RFP came as a surprise to the Tacoma Events Commission (TEC), which contracted with the city since the 1980s to produce the event and holds the rights to the Freedom Fair name.
In July, TEC executive director Gary Grape said it felt like the city was “conspiring behind the scenes to get rid of this iconic event,” News Tribune reporter Craig Sailor reported.
Now, TEC plans to host a Freedom Fair event elsewhere, TEC president and CEO Tony LaStella told The News Tribune this week. Contracts are not yet finalized, LaStella said, but added the location is outside the city of Tacoma but still close by.
TEC decided not to apply for the RFP released in June, citing concerns about the size, accessibility and other logistics of the event footprint. LaStella felt there was “no public involvement” in transition to the RFP process.
The RFP designated a specific footprint that is now changing, LaStella added, and the events commission has considered filing a formal protest.
“It was very unfair to put it out one way and then change it,” he said.
What about the air show?
Will there be an airshow along Ruston Way this Fourth?
All signs point to no.
An airshow is not part of Festival Inc.’s contract, so it isn’t required to have one. That could change in the future.
“Anything is always open for opportunity,” said Redifer, regional parks manager for Metro Parks. “This year will be a really good exercise to explore what has worked in the past, what does work and what the community wants.”
An airshow takes preparation, and interested parties have to reserve air space and jets early on with the military.
TEC was awarded a contract with the Air Force and Navy to conduct an airshow this year, but the location is still being decided, LaStella said.
This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
