Poway Days include return of festivals
Poway Days are approaching and two popular new events from last year are returning.
The Community Day Festival and SeptemberFest are both returning for a second year, following their successful debuts in 2017. “(The new events) were very successful, phenomenal attendance for both,” said Ted Dawson, chair of the Poway Days committee.
Poway Days will begin on Saturday, Sept. 8 with the 54th annual Poway Days Parade and the Community Day Festival. It will continue throughout September with SeptemberFest on Sunday, Sept. 16 and the Poway Rodeo on Friday, Sept. 28 and Saturday, Sept. 29.
The parade will kick off the celebrations at 9 a.m. and already has over 80 entrants, said Dawson. The theme for this year’s parade is “Be the Inspiration” and the grand marshal will be former San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman.
The parade has been sponsored by the Rotary Club of Poway-Scripps since 2013. The entry period will close soon, visit powaydaysparade.org for more information.
Following the parade will be the free Community Day Festival, held from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Poway Community Park. This family-friendly event includes food, entertainment, a beer and wine garden, carnival rides, games for children, a petting zoo and more.
Returning for the festival’s second year is a Flyball tournament in the Poway Dog Park, which draws teams from out of state, Dawson said, as well as a robotics competition, which is being put on alongside the award-winning Poway High School robotics team, Team Spyder.
There will be more competition in store, with the Fish Tank Young Inventor Competition and the Battle of the Bands, both held at the Community Day Festival. The Fish Tank competition, based on the popular “Shark Tank” television show, is aimed at inventors in elementary and middle school. Battle of the Bands is open to any amateur bands in San Diego County and will feature a grand prize of $500.
The festival will also host the finals of the 8th annual “So You Think You Can Sing” competition. The first qualifying round is this Friday at 8:30 p.m. at Kaminski’s Sports Lounge and Barbecue, with two more qualifying rounds on Friday, Aug. 24 and 31. The top two singers from each qualifying round will compete for first place in two categories (junior, for ages 15 and under, and open, for ages 16 and up). The overall winners will perform the National Anthem at the Poway Rodeo. A crowd-voted fan favorite will sing at a San Diego Gulls hockey game. Applications are available at powaydays.com.
There will also be a wide assortment of vendors at the festival, including many crafters, Dawson said. The vendor area will close at 5 p.m.
SeptemberFest is also returning with many of the same events that made it a success during its debut last year. “The vibe for SeptemberFest was everything we hoped for and more,” said Dawson. “The breweries and wineries came, the food trucks came. It molded itself into something cool. The community loved it.”
It will run from 4 to 8 p.m. in Poway Community Park and is free to attend. The event will feature seven food trucks, live music, beer and wine tasting, the Madame Mechanic Classic Car Show and an art show. Unlimited beer and wine tasting tickets are available for $25.
Poway Days will wrap up with the Poway Rodeo, at 6 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. A 21-and-older dance will follow the Friday rodeo event. The rodeo will include events like tie-down roping, steer wrestling, mutton busting, barrel and junior barrel racing and more. Tickets are available at powayrodeo.com.
For more details on the Poway Days events or how to volunteer for or sponsor the events, visit powaydays.com.
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