SPOKANE, Wash. — An iconic summer event in Spokane’s Garland District is canceled for 2019.
The Garland Street Fair typically takes place in August. Nine streets are blocked off for music, food, artists and other vendors. There were two stages for entertainment during the 2018 street fair.
A car and cycle show also takes place at the event.
“Thank you for your support. For 2019 we will not be doing the Street Fair. Please stay tuned for an update on 2020,” the Garland Street Fair website reads.
Garland Business District President Julie Shepard-Hall provided the following statement to KREM about the cancellation:
The Street Fair has continued to grow each year and our committee has been the same small group of people organizing it for the past several years. We have struggled to find enough people to organize and volunteer. In addition to that, it is very expensive to put on, [and] our profits are very small. Coordination of set up, take down and the needs of the vendors grew with the size. We all realize what a huge disappointment this is for our community, however, as a committee we decided that perhaps it was time to shift our efforts towards planning more smaller events that wasn't such a challenge for our District, our businesses and our surrounding neighborhood.
Shepard-Hall said the Garland Business District will revisit the idea in 2020.
The Garland District was established in 1910 and began to come into its own by the late 1920s. It now caters to those seeking eclectic art, an understated watering hole or a retro movie. The Milk Bottle restaurant and ice cream shop, built in the 1930s, is also a fixture of the area.
The Garland Business District was incorporated as a non-profit in 2007 to foster economic development and support local businesses in the area, according to the Garland District website. In 2013, Inlander readers voted the Garland District Best Neighborhood Shopping District.
The South Perry Street Fair, established in 1999, will take place on July 20 this year.
The Garland Street Fair joins popular Spokane music festival Elkfest, which was also cancelled in May 2018 after a 13-year run.
A Facebook post about the event's cancellation said there had always been an understanding that Elkfest had put a burden on its neighborhood, which was why the festival strived to do its best to respect its friends and neighbors.
Elkfest officials said it was with heavy hearts that they found it was time to end what has been an event that became bigger than they ever imagined.
Rocket Market in Spokane’s Comstock neighborhood also faced noise complaints about its free outdoor concerts. The concerts will continue after a jury agreed that the plaintiffs’ attorney did not provide enough evidence that the event disrupted residents.
The six plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit against Rocket Market were neighbors who filed a lawsuit in January 2017 because of the noise and alleged rowdiness of people attending the concerts. The plaintiffs’ attorney Jed Barden was asking for about $400,000 for each plaintiff, according to the market’s attorney George Mix.
