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On Mar. 24, the Founders Day Commission held one of its final meetings before the big festival. Members of the commission heard updates on more than 14 different committees that are involved in planning for the city’s largest community event.
Topics included vendor and carnival updates, cook-off reports and parade plans, to name a few. There was also a lot of discussion about the traffic control plan, which is one of the major logistical components of the festival.
“We’re one month away, so we are getting down to crunch time,” said chair Jeff Shindler.
Commission members also covered the volunteer recruitment effort, which is starting to ramp up. A sign-up sheet has been posted on the event website. After the meeting, Johnna Krantz, the city’s community events coordinator, said there are lots of opportunities for people to get involved throughout the weekend.
“We'll need assistance with the parade on Friday, which would be mainly during lineup to get all of the parade participants into the correct location,” Krantz said.
After the parade, they have to quickly move all the bike racks that they use to line Mercer Street and keep kids from darting into the path of the parade.
“It's a pretty tight turnaround after the parade moves past to get those bike racks collected and stacked,” Krantz said. “We could always use extra hands for that, because that's the point when the crowd starts wanting to try to get to the other parts of the festival.”
They also need volunteers to help with vendor setup and breakdown.
“A lot of our arts and crafts vendors are older, and some of them are veterans,” Krantz said. “They'll just need help setting up their tents, and maybe unload- ing crates from their vehicles so they can start setting up their booths.”
The volunteer signup list can be found at www.foundersdayfestival. com.
For attendees who are not volunteering, there are still ways to help make sure the festival is a success.
“While you’re at the event, lend a helping hand to your neighbor, or if you see anything that could be an issue, grab somebody with a badge and just let them know,” Krantz said. “We want this to be a fun and safe event for everybody who attends.”
Another way attendees can help make the festival more enjoyable is by minimizing traffic congestion as much as possible.
“We are in a tight space, and it does make downtown pretty crowded,” Krantz said. “I recommend that people carpool, that’s the big one,” Krantz said. “And I would recommend that people just know that you're going to need your walking shoes.”
On Saturday, there will be a free shuttle from Dripping Springs High School. Festival attendees can also park at the high school and walk. There are sidewalks that connect from DSHS all the way down to the carnival. Founders Park also has about 150 to 200 parking spaces, and there are sidewalks through the neighborhood to the intersection of Mercer and 12.
Krantz said that as Dripping Springs grows, so does the festival, and the commission is always looking for ways to improve. Planning for the festival is on track, but there’s still a lot to do.
“Founder's Day is just one of those events where it takes a lot of people to pull all the pieces together,” Krantz said. “We work really hard on that, but it does take a lot of people all the way down to the very day before to make sure everything is where it needs to be.”
The Founders Day Festival is set for April 25-27. It honors and celebrates the founding of the Dripping Springs community in 1850 by the Moss, Wallace, and Pound families. The threeday celebration kicks off with the Grand Parade, which features a “Viva Las Drippin’!” theme this year. The event includes free music and entertainment, the Mighty Thomas Carnival, food, beer, street dances, cook-off competitions, over 150 arts and crafts booths and business vendors. Admission is free.
