By Matthew Bott and Robin Kelley

In the next 30 days, into the Salmon Days Festival in early October, and for weeks thereafter, an estimated 200,000-plus tourists will visit Issaquah to catch a glimpse of the returning salmon. They will gather at the hatchery, move throughout the downtown and into many of our business districts. They will shop in our stores, eat in our restaurants, fill their cars with gas, stay in our hotels and enjoy our attractions.

Over half of these guests will visit our community during the Salmon Days Festival, enjoying our community during two days of fish, fun and fantastic times in Issaquah.

The Salmon Days Festival is certainly a different weekend for Issaquah than any other throughout the year.  There are music stages, a parade, road closures, hundreds of activities and artists across downtown – and lots and lots of people exploring and discovering Issaquah and its many treasures. For the community as a whole and more than 70 local non-profit organizations, it is the biggest weekend of the year for community exposure, charitable fundraising and civic support.

For many businesses, we are told that it is one of their best weekends of the year.

The festival brings in millions of dollars of economic impact, substantial tax revenues and outstanding community exposure to potential new residents, new businesses and new visitors. It is one of Issaquah’s best marketing tools. Plus, long ago festival organizers carved out a major portion of festival space exclusively for local non-profit, charitable and civic organizations, providing these hometown groups with direct access to the crowds to help advance their cause, recruit new members and raise needed funds. It is a tradition that continues today.

Over 500 volunteers and a dedicated volunteer organizing team, led by community leader and Festival Committee Chair Eileen Barber, meet and plan for many months, then work nearly around the clock for five days supporting the event. Our hats are off to them.

Despite consistent international awards, we also know that the festival program always can get better. The team is committed to improvement – a commitment that has led to the excellence we see today.

There’s more we can do to encourage visitors to explore other areas of town. There’s more we can do bring visitors back to Issaquah to shop, stay, dine and explore. There’s more we can do to leverage technology to enhance the experience. We look forward to this continued work.

Let’s enjoy the fun, the fish and the fantastic returns for our community this fall, and continue to develop programs, events and initiatives that will support our local businesses, our local civic organizations and our local economy.

Matthew Bott is the CEO of the Greater Issaquah Chamber of Commerce. Robin Kelley is the director of festivals within the chamber, covering Salmon Days and other Issaquah festivals and special events.