Bellevue's Strawberry Festival finds a new home

Bellevue's Strawberry Festival has been in a bit of a jam. While success has been sweet as the Eastside Heritage Center event grows, a sticky problem challenged organizers: No one wanted the festival.

First the Strawberry Festival outgrew the Winters House, a historic building near the Mercer Slough.

A 2003 move to Main Street took the festival back to its roots — the first Strawberry Festival was held there in 1925. Back when Bellevue was bucolic and fewer than 1,000 people lived in the area, Realtors Jennie Ethel Bovee and Charlie Bovee organized the Strawberry Festival to attract visitors and showcase luscious fruit grown by local farmers. The event continued until World War II.

The modern festival was revived in 1989 as a social event. It rapidly turned into a community party with multiple booths, activities for children and entertainment. Crowds lined up for strawberry shortcake. It became a two-day festival in 2005. But last year Main Street merchants nixed shutting down the street on Sunday to accommodate the festival's car show. Merchants also complained about the crowds ignoring their stores.

Last year the Strawberry Festival shared the Downtown Park with the Bellevue 24-Hour Challenge Relay. The two events overwhelmed the area. Both needed more space. Because the relay is tied to the end of the school year, it can't be shifted. Plus, as a Bellevue Youth Link/city-sponsored event, it takes precedence for the park.

So the Strawberry Festival, also tied to this weekend because of vendor contracts, was again forced to find a new home.

It will be held Saturday and Sunday in the Crossroads International Park, at Northeast Eighth Street and 164th Avenue Northeast. The parking problem, always a bugaboo at previous events, has been solved by providing shuttle service from the Sammamish High School parking lot.

"We're excited about moving to Crossroads," said Heather Trescases, the executive director of the Heritage Center. "The move brings the festival closer to the broader Eastside community."

Local history will be featured along with food and vendor booths. There will be a mini-museum with hands-on exhibits. Families can grind corn or enclose personal mementos in tin cans to create family time capsules.

The larger space allows an expanded family-fun area. Look for pedal cars and inflatable bouncing structures, plus coloring and strawberry-shortcake-eating contests. There will be entertainment stages for both children and adults. Sunday's festivalgoers will vote on their favorite vehicles in the classic-car show.

Strawberry shortcake will be available both days for $4.

"One of our new sponsors, COBS Bread at Crossroads, will be baking traditional shortcake biscuits for us," Trescases said. "They're delicious."

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com