Saturday, Sept. 7 kicked off both the 8th annual Downtown Tigard Street Fair and the 4th annual Latino Festival. The smell of freshly popped kettle corn and the sound of live music welcomed all to this free event in downtown Tigard. The event was organized by the Tigard Downtown Alliance and showcased a variety of food vendors, dancers and musicians.
Main Street was lined with over 180 booths filled with small businesses, nonprofits and local organizations. Unique vendors like Origami Owl Custom Jewelry, Shawn Gardner Dancing, Senet Game Bar (board game bar), Stumptown Escape Games (escape rooms), Purrs and Pastries Cat Cafe (cafe housing cats up for adoption), and Camp Courage (provides care packages to send to active-duty troops). Face painting, a bounce house and live music attracted the kids giving them a space to play. The adults were treated to a beer and wine garden, food trucks and prize giveaways.
Jessica Love, Tigard Farmers Market Manager, coordinated the vendors and activities for the day. Love’s efforts resulted in gathering a large crowd of all ages to this free event. “We were very pleased with the attendance. We had a steady flow of attendees throughout the entire event even with the rain. We have received a lot of positive feedback from attendees and vendors,” Love said.
At the beginning of the day, Layman’s Terms, Stack Wagon Band and Cody Weathers brought musical entertainment to the stage. As the day progressed, Tequila Highway (band) graced the stage followed by the dance performances of Hot Salsa and Timba Dance Class, MexicaTiahui Aztec Dance Group, and Pa’lante PDX.
A poll by Explore Downtown Tigard showed the majority of people enjoyed the vendors as their favorite attraction, and the main stage performances coming in at a close second.
In conclusion, Jennifer Boettler-Barker, a Tigard local, declared the event as a success. “A great variety of vendors and local businesses represented!”
