BY DANIEL GREEN

For The Beachcomber

After holding a hastily prepared alternative carnival at last year’s Strawberry Festival, event organizers have planned what they hope will be a more engaging experience for this weekend’s event.

Plans to host the regular carnival fell through last year, and the Vashon Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the annual festival, was forced to scramble in the 11th hour to come up with an alternative.

However the plan B — a rock climbing wall and a few inflatable structures — lacked the grandeur brought by a full-fledged carnival in years past.

The festivities’ underwhelming nature could be attributed to a lack of planning time. Paradise Amusements, the carnival supplier, had dropped out just a week before the festival because of a contract disagreement.

The chamber decided not to hire a traditional carnival company far earlier this year. With more time to survey islanders and communicate with contractors, the chamber has put together an alternative carnival that Executive Director Jim Marsh described as “human-powered” and “homegrown.”

“It’s going to be different,” he said. “It’s not going to be big and showy.”

Instead, the chamber has individually contracted a variety of rides and activities, many of which Marsh said will be more interactive and physical than a traditional carnival.

“What I’m going for is more stuff that you’d maybe see at a Burning Man, stuff that’s kind of cool and unusual,” he said.

He emphasized that he wants to transform the carnival from “something commercial” to “something playful.”

The carnival will feature a diverse range of activities aimed to appeal to all ages. Some of the attractions include pony rides, a 40-foot slide, a mechanical bull, small rides and Bubble Fun, where people can play inside giant plastic bubbles.

In addition, buskers, magicians and jugglers will perform throughout the carnival grounds.

Marsh said that after the press from last year’s last-minute event, amusement owners contacted him directly. This year, each attraction will be managed by a different small business owner instead of one large carnival contractor.

Marsh noted that another key difference in his homespun carnival is the lack of traditional carnival food and games.

“When you hire a carnival company, you have to give them exclusivity on [these] products,” he said.

Without this exclusivity agreement, Marsh explained, local vendors will take the place of carnival merchants who would otherwise only bring revenue for the carnival company itself.

“By not having (carnival games), we’ve opened it up for nonprofits to do their own kinds of games,” he said.

In contrast with some public criticism last year, Marsh said that he has felt minimal pushback so far. He is optimistic that festival-goers will like the new carnival.

“People, overwhelmingly, are positive,” he said.

While the piecemeal carnival will also bring more financial risk, Marsh was not particularly worried.

“I’m nervous because it’s a new venture, but I’m not scared of the risk, because when you’re trying to build something you have to take that risk,” he stated.

Marsh said what organizes want most is for everyone to have a good time.

“[We’re] trying to find things that are still engaging and fun but aren’t necessarily falling back on the old, tired ways of doing things.

— Daniel Green recently graduated from Vashon High School, where he wrote for The Riptide.