From Bike Race to Three Days of Events, Redmond Festival Celebrates 71st Year

Derby Days, the annual Redmond festival that began as a fundraiser for street decorations, will return to on July 8 to 10.

This year's festival will kick off with the Friday Night Live event, offering wine and beer selections to patrons as well as live music. Highlights of the musical lineup include Nearly Dan, a Steely Dan cover band, and Créme Tangerine, a Beatles cover band.

The live music and drinks will flow from 6 to 10 p.m.

Saturday is the main day of the event, according to Lisa Rhodes, events and marketing administrator for the city of Redmond. Saturday morning will feature the Redmond Kids' Parade.

"Our kids' parade contains more than 1,100 participants and is the longest running active kids' parade in the country," Rhodes said. "This year will be our 71st annual parade."

The kids' parade will be followed by a second parade, the Grand Parade, which Rhodes says will be a more traditional outing. 

The Redmond Derby Days Festival revolves around the Criterium Bike Race, a multi-lap race on a closed bike course that stresses speed and bike handling, according to the Derby Days website, rather than endurance and consistency. The main Criterium Bike Race will begin at 1:15 p.m. and continue to 8:30 at night. 

The race, originally a lap race around Lake Sammamish, has been the central focus of the festival since its inception 71 years ago. The family activities and weekend entertainment that are parts of the festival today are supplementary to that original bike derby.

The final main event and newest addition to the festival is the Derby Dash, a 5k charity walk on Sunday. Proceeds from the 5k will be given to the McCormick Foundation to help fund pancreatic cancer relief.

Overall, the event promises a slew of free family entertainment as well as additional live music to be performed on the Microsoft Main Stage. 

Festival-goers have several options in terms of parking, with shuttle rides offered to and from the event at each parking site. The parades will also cause road closures in the area, all of which is detailed on the Derby Days information page.