Chamber gears up for first Harvest Fest promotion

The Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce is continuing to utilize the new city branding by starting promotion for an upcoming Harvest Fest event.

Harvest Fest will span through the entire month of September, and any local events can be promoted in coordination with the festival.

The Harvest Fest promotions will begin in August, prior to the start of the Wheat Land Communities’ Fair (WLCF) and Ritzville Rodeo, which occurs over Labor Day weekend.

The Harvest Fest event comes after the Ritzville Chamber created the Spring Fest designation for the Memorial Day weekend events, which was an effort to create uniformed and comprehensive advertisements for all activities occurring over the course of the weekend.

The success of the promotion of events led the Chamber board members to consider creating multiple branding events in order to help support local businesses and activities.

The Harvest Fest promotions will include any events occurring within the month of September. The Chamber is asking for those hosting activities during that timeframe to contact them regarding promotion.

There is no cost to be including in the promotional materials, which will include posters, flyers and newspaper advertisements. The cost of the Harvest Fest event advertising materials is paid through the Chamber’s 110 fund allocation.

The 110 funds are dedicated for tourism promotion and activities, and the primary goal of the Harvest Fest is to attract visitors to the local community to participate in the multitude of events.

The Chamber hosted a brainstorming meeting for the event, where they invited representatives from the Ritzville Rodeo, WLCF and Ritzville Museum Volunteers.

Additional organizations and businesses the Chamber board members are hoping to partner with is East Adams Rural Healthcare for the Health, Safety and Wellness Fair, and Adams-Lincoln County WSU Extension for the My Farm, Your Table event.

The Spring Fest campaign in May focused on promotion of annual events like Art in the Park, Wheatland Jackpot Show, Possibilities’ Tour, Firemen’s Breakfast, Classics on Main Car Show and the Memorial Day ceremony.

The Chamber board would like any interested organization to provide a brief description of the event, and pertinent details surrounding the activity. The Chamber board would also prefer a logo from the organization hosting the event, to use as a sponsor on promotional materials.

Those interested in participating in the Harvest Fest promotion do not have to be Chamber members, but it is encouraged.

The goal of the Harvest Fest promotion is to begin with the annual fair and rodeo, and conclude with the farm to table event.

If organizers of those events want to participate, the events will be included in all promotional materials free of charge, and will help sell the Harvest Fest theme through the events’ advertising of cultivation of goods and products grown locally.

The Chamber board is hosting a special meeting on July 30 at 6 p.m. at Ritzville City Hall to establish advertising content.

Any individual, business or organization interested in hosting event during the Harvest Fest timeframe is encouraged to attend.

The meeting will focus on compiling content to best reflect each individual event, as well as the overall theme.

Those interested in volunteering for the Chamber or any events occurring during Harvest Fest are encouraged to attend.

To contact the Chamber, call 659-1936 or email [email protected].

The board members can also be contacted through the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page.