This Thursday, Davis local businesses will be heading out to Community Park.
The Davis Chamber of Commerce’s Fifth Annual Celebrate Davis! festival will be held Wednesday at Community Park, located at 14th and F streets. Festivities start at 4:30 p.m. and conclude with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.
Food vendors, retail shops and nonprofit organizations will be at the festival, filling 160 booths. Last year’s festival drew over 8,000 people. This year should be as successful as last year, said Nancy Cole, event coordinator for Celebrate Davis!.
“The event is to promote living and shopping in Davis,” Cole said. “This is the biggest event for the Chamber of Commerce.”
An important part of the event is that there will be a free bike valet offered by Transportation and Parking Services and volunteers from the California Bicycle Museum. Other freebies include Celebrate Davis! shopping bags for the first 1,500 attendees, Cole said.
Also at the festival will be a high striker, as seen at other carnivals and fairs. Rocknasium is bringing a climbing wall, and there will be a sweepstake. Participants can win $1,000 and other smaller denominations toward Davis businesses.
The California Aggie Marching Band-uh! will be performing, along with the local Davis band Cold Shot. Cold Shot has played at Celebrate Davis! for the past two years, said vocalist and bass player Richard Urbino.
As Davis and Sacramento locals, Urbino and his band members, René Martucci and Tim Wilbur, have played in a variety of places throughout Davis, including at university events such as the opening of the new stadium last year. They also have had a regular gig at Froggy’s Bar and Grill every Wednesday night for the past 10 years.
“Cold Shot is about fun. Perfect for families,” Urbino said.
The event may seem catered towards families, but it is catered toward everybody and there are usually tons of college kids at the festival, Cole said.
Zachary Levine, a UC Davis first-year political science major, said he would like to know what businesses there are in Davis and that the festival sounds interesting.
“If you don’t go out and actively look for things, you won’t know what’s in Davis,” Levine said.
Celebrate Davis! helps people find new shops and business they didn’t even know were here in Davis, Cole said.
“And there will be tons of good food,” Cole said. “It’s a good, all-out party.”
The Davis Graduate will also be at Celebrate Davis! with adult beverages, which are usually a motivation for college students and others, Cole added.
Once it gets dark, at 9 p.m. PG&E is sponsoring a fireworks show. Celebrate Davis! is held at Community Park because it is a venue where fireworks can be held.
SASHA LEKACH can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com
