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Allen USA returns for 17th year
Photos courtesy of city of Allen -- Last year's Allen USA event drew more than 85,000 visitors for a full day of live music and family-friendly activities, culminating with a patriotic fireworks show. This year's event, set for Saturday at Celebration Park, will be headlined by 1980s hitmakers The Bangles and feature a Radio Disney Live event with teen actor Brandon Mychal Smith.
By Conner Hammett, chammett@starlocalnews.com
The city of Allen will celebrate American independence a little bit early again this year when its annual Allen USA festival returns to Celebration Park on Saturday.
The Market Street-sponsored event, now in its 17th year, will feature a headlining musical performance by all-female rock combo The Bangles, best known for a string of chart-topping hits in the 1980s including "Manic Monday" and "Walk Like an Egyptian," followed by the event's signature patriotic fireworks show.
"[The Bangles] are our first-all female band, and what we keep hearing from people is moms and dads, they remember them, and kids will have a lot of fun with them," said Brandy Rentz, marketing manager for the city's parks and recreation department. "It's kind of a multi-generational thing now, introducing kids to a band that the parents grew up with."
"This package that we have is the Radio Disney Live tour, and they are doing this across the nation," said Tiffany Harben, special events coordinator. "They do 10 tour stops and we're one of the 10. They go to their biggest markets, and we are the Dallas stop, so that's exciting."
Other main stage performances include a rendition of the National Anthem by a Miss Texas contestant and a pre-Bangles set by Random Axis, a Dallas-area party and dance band. The community stage will feature four local performers and culminate with an autograph signing by Smith and other Radio Disney activities starting at 6:30 p.m.
The Kid's Zone will also return this year, this time featuring more than 20 inflatables, games and rides. The Cabela's Zone, sponsored by the hunting and outdoor megastore for the first time last year, will be relocated to the west side of the park, expanded in size and placed under a large tent for this year's event.
"They're bringing back their fishing pond again, and they're also adding a kayaking pond and they're expanding their archery exhibit that they did last year," Harben said. "So with that tent it's going to be an even bigger presence that they had last year."
Last year's event drew 85,000 visitors, a 10,000-person increase over the 2010 Allen USA event. The event's first year in 1995 at the Joe Farmer Recreation Center drew 5,000 guests.
"We have increased our attendance every year for 17 years, so we're fully anticipating an increase again just like we always do," Harben said. "This year, I think the weather will be a little bit warmer than probably last year, so we'll be planning accordingly to prevent any heat-related problems with staff and participants."
Rentz said last year's marketing efforts generated between 800,000 and 1 million advertising impressions. With the partnership with Radio Disney, that number should increase this year.
"[The partnership] gets us national exposure, because we're on their list, obviously, of the tour as it comes through, and then it actually increases our number of spots and our exposure on Radio Disney local by about probably three or fourfold from what we've had in the past," she said.
Market Street will host a meet-and-greet event featuring Radio Disney and Smith from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday. For information about the Allen USA event, visit www.allenusa.org.
"I think the best thing about Allen USA is it's truly a community event," Harben said. "There's lots of large events that charge for admission and charge for parking, and we've taken this event from 5,000 people to 85,000 people and still manage to keep it free and family-friendly and available to anyone who wants to come. I feel like we've done a really good job of balancing that small town, community event feel with a very reputable, large scale event."
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