Happy birthday, Woodbury Days! The beloved summer festival celebrates 40 years this month. To make the anniversary extra special, the team behind the festival (all volunteers!) has organized a weekend that combines activities you already know and love (like the Taste of Woodbury) with a few brand-new features. We talked with Woodbury Days president Kati Cheney about how the festival has evolved over the years and what she’s most looking forward to about the 2018 edition.
“Woodbury Days started 40 years ago as a community picnic and has grown into this big event,” Cheney explains, “bringing different aspects of Woodbury to showcase our great city.” She predicts this year’s festival will see around 35,000 attendees. To make sure everything runs smoothly for those guests, the Woodbury Days planning team is asking for more than 250 volunteers to help with everything from the bingo tent to the information booth. If the warm fuzzies of volunteering don’t quite motivate you, there’s some swag, too. “We’ll provide a free T-shirt and some other fun goodies,” Cheney says. Grab your kids and neighbors, and sign up for a volunteer spot at woodburydays.com/volunteering.
You’re probably familiar with the beloved standbys of the festival, so we asked Cheney to share some of what’s
new this year, to whet your Woodbury Days appetites.
Gooooaaaaal!
The state’s professional men's soccer team, Minnesota United, “will have a presence at our event,” says Cheney. The team’s state-of-the-art new stadium is underway nearby in St. Paul, and Minnesota United has some deep-running Woodbury blood, too. “One of the owners and a couple of players on the team are from Woodbury, so they’re going to be joining us throughout the weekend,” says Cheney. Volunteers who go “above and beyond,” says Cheney, will receive tickets to Minnesota United games.
Play the Blues
Woodbury Days will host musician Joey Flip for the first time—and in addition to his fun performance, he’ll also be teaching harmonica lessons. One hundred tickets are available for kids, who’ll receive their very own harmonicas and get to sit in on a lesson with Flip. “He’ll be performing after the lessons, and he’ll cue the kids during the set, so they’ll get to be part of the band,” says Cheney. “We’re hoping to get different music at the park, and teach kids of all ages—it’ll be cool to see.” (Audience members can also check out Flip’s handmade guitar, which he crafted out of vintage oil cans.)
Color Me Happy
Woodbury Days is partnering with the Crayola Experience, an interactive art installation at the Mall of America, for a kids’ coloring contest. It kicks off right away this month: Visit woodburydays.com to check out the drawing prompt. Kids create their masterpieces and submit them at a designated drop-off location (check the web for details). “We’ll showcase the winning artwork at the event, so they’ll be helping to decorate Woodbury Days,” Cheney says. There are some cool prizes available, too, including general admission tickets for the Crayola Experience and annual passes.
The Best Fest
Don’t take our word for it—visit woodburydays.com for a full schedule of activities and events, plus info about parking, volunteering and other logistics. Don’t miss a few other highlights at this year’s event:
Princess bingo hours, with special guests for a meet-and-greet.
A win-me car (watch for it all month, as Kati Cheney drives it around town).
Worship in the park, hosted by Crossroads Church.Music from local favorite The Dweebs.
Woodbury Days 2018
August 24-26
Ojibway Park
