Inside Arvada
Inside Arvada is the City of Arvada’s official podcast where we bring you conversations with the people who make Arvada a thriving community. Hear stories about the past, present and future of Arvada through the lens of the City team members who help make it all happen. Explore the complex topics impacting our community and dig in to conversations about parks and sustainability, development, transportation, water resources and more.
Inside Arvada
Inside Arvada Summerfest with Adelle Burton
Get ready for the City's new summer kickoff celebration, Arvada Summerfest, with Special Events and Public Arts Manager Adelle Burton.
Summerfest is a brand new event sponsored by the Arvada Festivals Commission on Saturday, June 7 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Ralston Park Addition (64th Ave. and Quail St. just north of Arvada West High School). The free event is both family- and pet-friendly.
Adelle shares with us what to expect at Summerfest, including a beer garden, free kids activities, a pet swimsuit contest/parade and a lineup of live music that features Mighty Holler, Earl Nelson and the Company, and The Barlow!
Participate in Bike Friendly Arvada's community ride before the event, and/or ride your bike to Summerfest and take advantage of Bike Friendly Arvada's free bike valet!
The lightning round for this episode features some Arvada festivals trivia! Information for the trivia questions was pulled from two sources: "Arvada Comes of Age: A history of Arvada, Colorado During the Period 1942-1976" and "New Frontiers: A History of Arvada, Colorado 1976-2006" both courtesy of the Arvada Historical Society.
News and Events:
- Fourth of July Fireworks
- Movies Around Town
- People's Choice Movie Poll
- Bulky Item Drop-off Event on June 7
- Arvada Kids Fishing Contest on June 14
- Lake Arbor Center and Golf Course Master Plan Community Meeting on May 29
The outro song for this episode is courtesy The Barlow, who will be headlining Arvada Summerfest on June 7. The song is titled "Standing Next to Me" and is from their newest album, "High Spirits."
Visit us at ArvadaCO.gov/Podcast or email us at podcast@arvada.org.
Hello and welcome to episode 30 of Inside Arvada, the official podcast of the City of Arvada. I'm one of your hosts, sean Starr, so glad that you're tuning in to today's episode. Our guest is Adele Burton, the City's Special Events and Public Arts Manager for special events, and she's been in her role since 2020, leading the city's events, including the one we talked mostly about today Arvada Summerfest. And, as always, I'm joined by my co-host, katie Patterson. Hi, katie.
Speaker 2:Hey Sean. Yeah, it was great to have Adele back again. Summerfest just sounds like it's gonna be a lot of fun. There's live music, there's beer, there's a pet parade, so it just sounds like a great time for a family-friendly free event the city's putting on. Hi Adele, thanks so much for joining us today. So congrats. You're our first repeat guest on Inside Arvada Super exciting. But for folks who didn't get to listen to our first ever episode that you were on talking about Kite Festival, tell us just a little bit about yourself and your work with the city.
Speaker 3:Sure, my name's Adele Burton. I'm the special events and public arts manager for the city. I've been with the city for about six years and I work closely with the festivals commission and the arts and culture commission, which are both volunteer committees appointed by city council every year. Fun work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we wanted to have you back on, not just because you were a great guest the first time around, but to talk specifically about a new festival that the commission is sponsoring this year called Arvada Summerfest, and it's happening here, coming up not too far away, on Saturday, june 7th, at Ralston Park Edition, that's just north there of Arvada West High School. Tell us about Summerfest. What is it? What can folks expect?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So we kind of wanted to take some elements from both Arvada ONTAP and Arvada Days, which were two events that the commission had previously organized, which we eliminated this year, but it's got components of each of those, so we'll have a beer garden throughout the whole entire grounds, so a similar layout to Arvada on tap. We've got all the proceeds from the beer garden going to our same community partners, the Arvada Jefferson Kiwanis Club, arvada Sunrise Rotary and Arvada Vitality Alliance, and there's going to be something for everybody, all ages, and bring your pets. We've got a kid zone with some inflatables, apex will be bringing a ninja course out and we'll also have free face painting as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so something truly for all ages, whereas Arvada on Tap was an adult only and so no kids. And then this is like free event Bring your kids. You can also drink adult beverages if that's what you prefer. We'll have live music, and so we hear from the community that free and like family friendly is kind of what they prefer. So it's great that the commission is catering towards what the community wants from our events.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Another big takeaway from a survey we did was free and live music, so we've got some really great bands this year.
Speaker 2:This all sounds super interesting, but the part I'm most excited for it sounds hilarious is the pet swimsuit contest and parade. So tell us a little bit about how people can participate in that. Where did that idea even come from?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so more appropriate for the season. This did come over from Arvada Winterfest. We did an ugly sweater pet competition and parade so we kind of took this and brought it over to Summerfest. Too hot for ugly sweaters in the summer so we're doing a pet swimsuit competition. So funny, it's going to be great. You know, we just did a promotional shoot with the city and had some of you guys bring your dogs and dressed them up and it was a really good time and a great preview of what to expect for Summerfest.
Speaker 1:Having tried to find a swimsuit that fits a dog um, it was more difficult than you would think, so I'm very curious to find out the creativity that in the community will come up with to dress their dogs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we'd love to see some DIY costumes. We went to ARC to get some stuff, so yeah.
Speaker 2:How much do people know for how to participate?
Speaker 3:So you can register the day of. You'll register around 11 am, right when the event starts, hang out for about an hour and then, after the first band is done playing, we'll do the pet parade and then the announcement of the winners.
Speaker 1:So, speaking of live music, that's a huge component of Summerfest as well. Let's talk about the lineup that we have set for Summerfest because, as I've learned a little bit more about these bands, it's got me really excited for this event. They're all local bands, especially the headliner right the Barlow, most of the band members born right here in Nevada, and so, yeah, tell us about the music people can expect to see at the event.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so our headliner is the Barlow. Like you said, they're local to Arvada, they're a country rock band, so they'll be really, really great. And then the second band that we have is Earl Nelson and the company. One or multiple of their members are also local to Arvada, so that would be really great. And then we've got Mighty Holler, which is two couples and they do kind of harmonies and bluegrass.
Speaker 1:Yeah, great job by the. Was it the commission that found these bands Like, how do we start reaching out?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we have a couple great commission members that have a really great in with a lot of bands and just local stuff going on and they make really good suggestions.
Speaker 1:So, if you wait to the end of the episode, we do have I, I think a song from the Barlow that they gave us permission to use to promote the event, so we'll put that at the end of the episode so you can listen, get a little preview as well, as we'll link to some of the Spotify pages to each of these bands so people can check them out and know what to expect.
Speaker 2:Very cool. This sounds, I'm excited, like a great way to kick off summer. I love this new concept. So what are some other things that folks should know before they go?
Speaker 3:Sure, you know. Of course, please, there's limited parking. So if you can ride share or carpool, we also will have Bike Friendly Arvada doing a free bike valet there. So please ride your bike over. It'll be safe while you enjoy the event. Bike Friendly Arvada is also doing a pre-event community bike ride, so there's information on our website if you're interested in that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as a free bike valet. For folks who don't know, because when I first heard the term I was a little bit confused at what that is, it's essentially just they corral off a section of the event space and have people monitor that area so that your bike can be securely stored away while you go out and enjoy the rest of the event.
Speaker 3:Yep, and they give you a ticket so they know. You know which bike is yours and they'll watch it through the whole event and it's safe there, so you can rest easy while you enjoy the event.
Speaker 1:Yeah, great partnership there with Bike Friendly. Now it also is a pet friendly event as well, and so, if I plan on bringing my pet, what are some tips?
Speaker 3:They need to be on a leash. We definitely welcome them, but please keep them on a leash. Also, you know, just clean up after them so you don't ruin someone else's day at the event. But we'll have a pet photo booth for free so you can get some good shots of your dog or hey, if you want to bring your cat, I'm not opposed to it. I was going to say we're calling it pet friendly so we're not just saying only dogs, so we'll see, be careful.
Speaker 1:What you wish for there, guys, I don't know, I don't know, right, um and again, this will be a zero waste event, right, as all of our festivals are. Um, we'll, if I don't know where to discard certain items, we'll have people there standing by the receptacles to let us know. We'll have people there standing by the receptacles to let us know We'll have scraps there.
Speaker 3:They're also local to Arvada. They do all of our zero waste events Um, and they will have people at all the stations helping you to know where to put your um waste.
Speaker 1:Awesome, um, I have one more question.
Speaker 2:Rain or shine. What is there any um? What should people know about weather, in case? Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3:There's no rain out date, so we are rain or shine. Obviously, if there's inclement weather or thunderstorms or extremely heavy rain, we may have to cancel, but always follow our website and socials to find any updates on that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah. I mean, as long as there's not like immediate threat of lightning or like a torrential downpour, we're going to try to make the event happen.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we've done our VAT on tap in the rain many, many years, so we can stick it out if you can Love it. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's Summerfest coming up on June 7th. We also have Movies Around Town coming up not too far away as well.
Speaker 3:Tell us about this year's lineup of movies around town and what people can expect at those events. Yeah, so movies around town for anyone that doesn't know is our free kind of movies in the park, and instead of just one location, we like to hop all around Arvada to give everyone an opportunity to walk or bike to a movie in their neighborhood. We also do live music before the movie starts, and then this year our first movie is on June 27th at Memorial Park and we'll be showing the Goonies, and then July 18th we've got Beetlejuice at Michael Northey Park. August 8th we have Happy Gilmore at Bridgeside Park, and then August 29th we do People's Choice, so you will be able to go on our website and vote on what you would like the last movie to be.
Speaker 1:Definitely, and we'll link to the webpage for those dates and locations as well, and to the People's Choice movie poll as well. It's a fun thing that we do each year. One final event that we haven't touched on before we kind of wrap up here is our Independence Day fireworks display Fewer, and fewer, I feel like, communities around us are doing those, so I feel like our fireworks display is more popular than ever. What's the plan this year? Anything different? What can folks expect from our fireworks?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so similar set up as past years. We really just do the fireworks show and then we also have added food trucks, so we'll have 10 plus food trucks there. Um, tons of variety, Um. And then, yeah, the gates don't open until about 645, 630. So you can't park in there early, but you're welcome to walk into the park and come earlier throughout the day, Um and but, yeah, we'll have the fireworks, same as usual, about a 25-minute long show.
Speaker 1:Over there at Stanger Sports Complex beginning right around like 9-ish.
Speaker 3:Around 9-ish.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hard to get an exact date on that, our time on that.
Speaker 3:It's got to be the perfect win to launch fireworks.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, before we go on to our changed lightning round, any final thoughts, misconceptions that you want to clear up for folks.
Speaker 3:Maybe just you know we have tons of great organizations within Arvada that put on events, so a lot of your well-known loved events are not necessarily put on by the city. The Old Town Business Improvement District does Second Saturdays. They just had their first one last weekend. We've got the Harvest Festival that usually happens in September. That's also not one that the city plans and there's tons of other events with Apex and the Chamber that goes on throughout the summer and then, just you know, for Summerfest. We're actually using that as like a kickoff so that you can come to Summerfest and learn about all the other events happening throughout the summer with other organizations.
Speaker 2:Very cool.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you mentioned that, because that is kind of part of the Summerfest theme, right? Yeah, learn from some of these other community partners about what else they have going on.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we want to highlight all organizations in Nevada and give people a stage to tell everyone about it. Nice.
Speaker 1:All right, as Katie alluded to, we have a bit of a different lightning round. Since, adele, we already had you on the podcast earlier. We don't want to ask you the same five questions. We didn't come up with new questions, so instead we're going to do a true or false history of Arvada festivals edition. Okay, so I'm going to read off a statement here and uh see if you can guess if it's true or false. Okay, speaking of speaking of the harvest festival, not an event run by the city, um, but this year is, it's a hundredth year. Uh, the first one was held on October 17th of 1925 to commemorate the first paved road from Denver to.
Speaker 1:Arvada to commemorate the first paved road from Denver to.
Speaker 3:Arvada False. Is that true or false?
Speaker 1:False. Yeah, covid, right, that is true. What Didn't they lose? A year for COVID? Well, no, the first one was 1925.
Speaker 2:No, no, it was because of the. Yeah, he's saying that it was because of a paved road. Yeah, that's what the first one was.
Speaker 1:The impetus for that Was to celebrate the first paved road from Denver to Arvada. That's true. Unfortunately, there was a snowstorm leading up to that first harvest festival, so the governor and county commissioners couldn't come to Arvada, even though we had a paved road to that first event. Yeah, exactly A few years later it was moved to Labor Day and the focus shifted from p paving to produce and so, but the first few years there were to celebrate that first pave road. I thought that was hilarious.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I totally assumed it was produce. Really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so shout out to New Frontiers the History of Arvada, a book by the Historical Society where I pulled this information, as well as some of these other ones as well. All right, number two during the 1988 Harvest Festival. There was a new event that year called a Jell-O Toss Contest, and for $1, participants could toss two slabs of Jell-O at local luminaries. Is that true or false?
Speaker 3:I hope it's, true.
Speaker 2:You said 1988.
Speaker 3:It was $1.
Speaker 2:False.
Speaker 1:That's true as well.
Speaker 2:It was like 25 cents, come on.
Speaker 1:Yeah right, I know that was like.
Speaker 3:I mean a slab of.
Speaker 1:Jell-O.
Speaker 2:Yeah, who knows Two slabs, that's water and sugar.
Speaker 1:Speaking of the Jell-O, it was provided by Good Berries, which at the time was an institution there in Arvada. Unfortunately, that restaurant closed down in about 2006. But yeah, it was not bring your own Jell-O. Jell-o was provided for a dollar All right Around. The same time, there there was true or false Arvada's first fest. It was an event in the 90s, sponsored by the Northwest Metro Chamber of Commerce, and by 1995, it grew to include 200 exhibitors, 24 restaurants, amusement rides, a petting zoo, a car show and even an appearance by avalanche mascot Bernie. True or false.
Speaker 3:False.
Speaker 2:I'm saying true because I've always said false.
Speaker 1:It is false. It was a real event. All that information is true, except for Bernie wasn't around there, it was Dinger was the big appearance there. You know 95. That's right around. I think Dinger was first a mascot and so first fest. Yeah, that was aligned with a real event called Arvada Business Week in June, and so it was kind of aligned with that. All right, we got two more here. Going a little bit further, back on November 13th of 1954, 20 women entered a pancake race, a pancake race along Grandview Avenue between Wadsworth Boulevard and Teller Street. Participants had to flip a pancake in their skillet as they ran the course. True or false.
Speaker 2:I'm going to say true, yeah, true.
Speaker 1:That's true.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And all the winners were actually from Wheat Ridge, including the first place finisher, mrs Swanson, so pancake race.
Speaker 2:That's really interesting.
Speaker 1:All right. Last one as part of the Colorado Centennial and the United States Bicentennial celebrations, the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities was officially dedicated on July 4th 1976. 1976. Several local officials were part of there for the honors and other like centennial bicentennial events for that year included a Skate 76 program at the North Jeffco Ice Arena, painting the city's fire hydrants red, white and blue, and a happy birthday.
Speaker 3:USA parade at North Jeffco Park. True or false? I feel like something in there has to be false. I feel like something in there has to be false.
Speaker 1:There was a lot of info that was all true. Yeah, and, as we mentioned, our 4th of July fireworks celebration still goes on to this day, with our fireworks display coming up on 4th of July. All right, that wraps up our True or False.
Speaker 3:That was really fun. That was some good trivia.
Speaker 1:That was good trivia, yeah, it was good to go back through a couple of those books. As I mentioned, our Vata Historical Society has several volumes of the history of the city, depending on the year, so I can link to those as well in the show notes to give them credit. Cool.
Speaker 4:All right, Thanks, Adele. Thank you guys.
Speaker 2:As a reminder, we love to hear from you all our listeners. Stay in touch by texting us the link is at the top of the show notes or email us at podcast at arvadaorg. We'd love any feedback, any questions you have for Odell or things you'd like to see in future episodes. And then news and events coming up here soon in the city, on the same day as Summerfest, actually June 7th, we'll have the next bulky item drop-off event of the year, and that's again same as the other two events this year 9 am to 2 pm at the North Area Athletic Complex or the NAC, and all the information what you should know before you go.
Speaker 2:They are checking IDs this year, so be sure to bring proof of residency. All of that information is available at arvadagov slash bulky items. And then each year the city publishes a water quality report and that is now available online. You can find it right there in the news section of the homepage of arvadagov. But along with that report this year there's also a quick survey out just for the water quality department to learn a little bit more about our residents and the services that they provide and how they can improve, and so you're encouraged to both read the report and take that survey. It's arvadagov slash water report.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we have our annual kids fishing contest coming up here on Saturday June 14th at Arvada Blonde Reservoir. That's from 7 am to 11 am and this is a free event for kids ages 14 and under and, as such, the reservoir will be closed to everyone else during that time, until 2 pm. So we'll link that event in our show notes. Also, the city is hosting its second annual volunteer appreciation event coming up here on Saturday, may 31st at Memorial Park. We'll have food trucks, custom gifts for our volunteers and some live music.
Speaker 1:You should have gotten an invite and please be sure to RSAP if you haven't already. And if you didn't get the invite, please check with your volunteer coordinator. And then, finally, the Lake Arbor Center and Golf Course Master Plan is hosting its second community open house on Thursday May 29th at Pomona High School from 6 to 8 pm. This meeting in particular will be dedicated to discussion only about the community center and pool. We'll plan for a separate community meeting later on to discuss the future of the golf course, but for now this one will be just about the Lake Arbor Center. Please RSVP to let us know you're coming so we have an accurate count and you can learn more and RSVP on the webpage at arvaticogov slash lakearbormasterplan.
Speaker 2:And thank you again. So much to our guest today, adele Burton. Be sure to listen next time to our episode with utilities engineering manager Mary Stahl. She's going to be talking about some of the big utility projects that are happening around town. If you've seen the construction on 68th and Sheridan, or maybe out on Indiana, those are all water and wastewater projects that are part of the long range planning we do at the city to improve our utility systems. And today's podcast was recorded and edited by Arvada Media Services. And to tune us out today is a song by the headliners from Summerfest the Barlow. It's called Standing Next to Me, guitar solo. Been a month.
Speaker 4:Sunday, since we laid our burdens down. Wind blows me in and you'd rather be leaving. Can't do it again, but I can start from here, flying high. Still, your heart breaks on the dot. Could've been a moment, but we stayed too long. Ain't gotta learn everything the hard way. Hell, I swing for the fences, it's all that I can do. Hell, I'm standing in the doorway. Thank you Standing next to me. When you're standing next to me, I'd wait in the wings If it shattered my pride Moth to a flame. Yet you still curse my name.
Speaker 4:And here we are, just a couple kids strong. You can tend with the highway and the snakes. Hell, I swang for the fences, it's all that I can be. And I'm standing in the doorway Like someone you hardly knew me in the doorway, like someone you hardly knew it's living, like you were lost to find standing next to me. When you're standing next to me, we'll see you next time. Gate on them. Troubles or fate could have been a moment. Didn't stay too long. Ain't gotta learn everything I've learned. And I swam before the fences. It's all that I can do. And I'm standing in the doorway Like someone you hardly knew. As we laugh, you lost the fight Standing next to me, standing next to me, standing next to me, standing next to me, standing next to me you.