Signaling that summer had finally arrived, the scent of sunscreen wafted through the air during the Kent Cornucopia Days festival.
“It’s really hot outside, it’s like Florida,” 16-year-old Anre Nguyen said at the Lions Street Fair, describing the weather July 9.
For many people, the glaring sun, humidity and high temperatures made going outdoors too uncomfortable. Bill Wescott, director of the Kent Cornucopia Days, said attendance was down by about 50,000 people this year; overall, this year’s festival attracted between 200,000 to 250,000 people. The heat definitely played a factor.
“Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’ve got this tight tolerance for temperature so it can’t be too cold, it can’t be too hot,” Wescott said.
Although street venders were covered by the shade of their booths, many still had a tough time dealing with the heat.
“If it wasn’t so hot, it’d be nice,” Sharon Sayler said while sitting in her booth. “As long as we sit back where the shade is, it’s nice.” (what kind of booth did Sayler have?)
The festival’s hottest day, Friday, typically is the slowest day but still had the greatest drop in attendance compared to previous years.
“(Vendors) usually see a surge in attendance after quitting time on Friday,” Wescott said. “That just didn’t happen (this year) because it was so hot so people just stayed home.”
Eventually, attendance improved as the weather cooled down.
Festivalgoers desperately searching to cool off at the Lions Street Fair were provided with free paper fans such the ones the Geico Insurance booth was handing out with the face of the Geico gecko on the front. Free cups of Crystal Springs water were also given out as part of a promotion from the company.
Arguably the most popular way to cool down during the festival for children was the fountain at the Town Square Plaza.
Youngsters splashed in the water, all prepared in swim trunks and swimsuits while parents and grandparents watched from the side.
But kids weren’t the only ones cooling off. Nikki Molina, a regular attendee of the festival, noted that the fountain was a good place for people in general, “getting wet and playing and enjoying the sun.”
For Molina, the heat was not too much of a distraction. The spectacle of the festival was enough reason to get out of her house.
“I feel they’re getting more creative with the kind of booths to be here and the rides and the kind of marching parades and the events with the boats and stuff,” Molina said.
Other than the drop in attendance, Wescott said the festival went well without any major issues. He said people had approached him saying they thought everything went smoothly and that it had been organized quite nicely.
According to Wescott, the festival had not felt this kind of heat since 1996, which also affected attendance. Generally, the temperature at Cornucopia Days is around the mid-to-upper 70s.
“We’re not blaming the weather, obviously,” he said, with a chuckle.
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