Olympia’s 65th Capital Lakefair will bring ‘unity’ in the community after two years

The 65th Capital Lakefair kicks off and runs through Sunday with the theme of ‘Unity in our Community,’ with the intent of bringing the Olympia community together after a two-year pandemic hiatus.

Although the event is back, Lakefair Board Member George Sharp said starting the event back up was difficult due to the loss of around $140,000 in revenue during the pandemic. Sharp also said the event lost about 15 Capitalarian members due to COVID and safety concerns, leaving fewer members to get the event up and running.

“There’s about 25 of us working on Capital Lakefair to pull it off this year,” he said.

With the help of an additional 60 to 100 volunteers, Sharp said he hopes the event will be a success. Many things about the event will stick to its long-established traditions, he said.

As in previous years, Lakefair will be at its traditional location in Heritage Park in downtown Olympia. There will be a carnival, games, live music and vendors. Main stage live entertainment will include more than 25 performers with a variety of different music styles, from local artist Prodi J to Elvis impersonator Steve Unger.

Vendors will be available from noon to 9 p.m. every day of the fair, and fair-goers will be able to find goods such as candies, soap, clothing, blankets, handmade African crafts and jewelry.

As always, non-profit organizations will run food booths at the fair from noon to 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and from noon to midnight Sunday. They will serve a variety of food from burgers, barbecue and hot dogs to egg rolls, Korean tacos, frozen yogurt and crepes. Sharp said there are three new food vendors and a new style of the classic elephant ears.

This year, the fair also will emphasize the importance of downtown businesses. Sharp said that if visitors show their receipt from a downtown shop or eatery at the Lakefair information booth, they can win prizes such as free carnival tickets, food, T-shirts and more.

“We’re really trying to encourage people to support downtown while they are in town,” he said.

Other events that will be the same at Capital Lakefair will be Senior Day, the Lakefair Grand Parade, and the Grand Finale Fireworks display. Senior Day will be from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday. The parade will feature floats, bands, cheerleaders and equestrian units starting at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The fireworks show over Capitol Lake will wrap up the festival at 10:15 p.m. Sunday.

Sharp said the event was kept alive by loans, grants and support from the city for the past two years, but it will need the support from the community this year to continue to survive.

“We need to make sure this festival is a big success,” he said, “so that we can carry on into being able to put on the 2023 festival.”

This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.