The Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce is excited about the 30^th anniversary of the Washington Summer Festival on June 7-9. The festival has such deep roots in our community, and many volunteers and staff spends hours planning all year for this event. We often hear about the way the festival used to be. Over the past five years, the committee has worked hard to make sure that we are providing something for everyone throughout the weekend.  This year, we have the Craig Woolard Band on June 7 and the Steady Eddies and Sol Junky (who have performed with the Zac Brown Band) on June 8. We have the Christian ProTown BMX bikers coming to do three shows June 8. Lowe’s of Washington will have a great section for children to build wooden crafts. The Little Washington Sailing School will be offering free sailboat rides. There are a wide variety of rides, and there are more than 25 local vendors participating.  We are encouraged by the increase in local vendors over the past few years and welcome any business or organization that wants to participate. We have had many nonprofits participate in the festival as one of their fundraisers, and we encourage their participation. This year, thanks to PotashCorp-Aurora, the N.C. Symphony will be performing at 7:30 p.m. June 9. The concert is free. Sunday. At 6 p.m. June 9, the N.C. Symphony will have its Instrument Zoo, where children may try out a variety of instruments before the concert. We also will have a donation area for new and used instruments to be donated to Beaufort County Schools’ music programs. Some students have to pay monthly to rent their instruments from our schools, and we are hoping to get donations of new and used instruments that can be given to the schools to use. There will be a meet-the-conductor reception at the N.C. Estuarium from 5:30 p.m. to 7p.m. June 9. For $40, you get to meet the conductor, enjoy great food and drink and have a seat in the reserved section in front of the symphony. We have tried this year to make sure the Summer Festival has something for everyone, and I encourage you to bring your family to downtown Washington on June 7-9 for the 30^th-annual Summer Festival.

Catherine Glover is executive director of the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce.