Crowds flocked to Main Street and Battle Ground High School as the community celebrated this year’s Harvest Days, which featured many of its staple events and concluded with a blast Saturday night.
The annual event shut down parts of Main Street on two occasions over the course of the festival. It began with the Harvest Nights Car Cruise on Friday night. The next day, onlookers saw a formation of floats process down the street on Saturday morning during the annual parade.
There wasn’t a dedicated “burnout pit” this year and participants of the cruise were respectful of the rules in place, Kendra Laratta with the Battle Ground Festivals Association said. The association has organized Harvest Days in recent years.
For the parade, Laratta said there were 95 entries and an estimated 10,000 people came to watch both the cruise and parade.
Staples like Clark County Fire District 3’s pancake breakfast, a book sale at the Battle Ground Community Library and a vendor fair at the high school returned. Newer events like a BMX bike show by the skate park and a car show at old town businesses were also well-received, Laratta said.
Though it wasn’t initially planned, Harvest Days did feature a “mini midway” in place of a full-on carnival. The smaller selection of rides joined “Bounce-N-Battle” inflatables.
Laratta said Bounce-N-Battle featured unlimited play in the collection of inflatable games, obstacle courses and bounce houses for a $10 fee. She said plans are in place to bring it back for another year.
The two-day celebration this year ended on an explosive note. As events concluded on Saturday night, the city was treated to a professional fireworks show near the high school.
The same company that puts on fireworks shows at Fort Vancouver was hired for Battle Ground’s own event, Laratta said.
“The great finale of the professional fireworks show really topped off the weekend and received a lot of positive feedback,” Laratta said.
Following this year’s Harvest Days, Laratta said the festival association plans on expanding the event even more given the positive feedback. She gave shout-outs to the city, Fire District 3, volunteers and local businesses who help with Battle Ground’s big summer celebration every year.
“We love Battle Ground and appreciate the support,” Laratta said.
