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Milwaukie details first Milwaukee Fest: July 11–13 Main Street events, time capsule opening
Summary
City events staff previewed Milwaukee Fest, a three-day community festival July 11–13 featuring a movie in the park, a Main Street festival, an enhanced farmers market and a time capsule opening; staff requested volunteer help and promoted parking, transit and bike options.
Dan Harris, the city's events and emergency management coordinator, told councilors the city’s new three-day Milwaukee Fest will run the weekend of July 11–13 and combine movie nights, Main Street activities, a farmers market children’s day and a time-capsule opening.
Why it matters: The event is designed to highlight community groups, city departments and downtown businesses while testing a larger annual festival model. Staff said the festival relies on sponsors and volunteers and that the first-year budget and sponsorships have grown since planning began.
Harris said Milwaukee Fest will begin on July 11 with a movie night and live music at Artemold Elementary’s field, partnering with the parks district for logistics. On July 12, the Main Street Festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. along blocks of Main Street and include a kids’ zone, a city-departments block, a pop-up skate park and a Plaza of Champions stage area that will host performances and a Pacific Northwest wrestling event in the afternoon.
At 1 p.m. on July 12 the city plans to open a historic time capsule from the 1938 City Hall. Harris said the time-capsule event will be followed by family-friendly programming and community performances.
Harris described elements intended to ease attendance: transit outreach with TriMet, expanded bike parking at Jackson and Maine, three public parking lots and designated park-and-ride locations. He asked councilors to share social posts, volunteer recruiting and parking materials.
On event partnerships and logistics, Harris credited a planning committee—Sierra Cook, Chris Haberman, Luis Diaz, Rob Campbell, Rosie Herboff, Teresa Haberman and Tyler King—and a set of sponsors whose support increased the event budget from an initial $10,000 to roughly $21,000. He said several sponsored promotional posters and large banners will display partner logos and that sponsors will appear on volunteer T-shirts and event materials.
“Milwaukee Fest. It’s going real well,” Harris said as he closed the update.
Ending: Harris asked councilors to share event posts, encourage volunteers (staff said they still needed about a dozen volunteers) and noted the city will post updated schedules and parking maps. He said the festival is a pilot year and staff expects to refine the model for future years.
