by Steven Sanchez
May 3, 2025 – The 9th Annual Clovis Trail Fest took place on Saturday, May 3, providing fun, entertainment, and recreation for participants. The free family event was held along the scenic Old Town and Dry Creek Trails, stretching from Third Street and Clovis Avenue all the way to Dry Creek Park and Railroad Park.
The event had it all. Over 35+ booths and vendors supplied activities, demonstrations, free
water, and snacks for everybody involved. Families of all ages were walking, including their
pets, or jogging. People were either riding bikes, skateboarding, on scooters, or recumbent
bicycling.
Other unique activities that took place on the trail were bird watching and photography.
Including live music at Railroad Park with Gilbert & The Galaxies playing classic tunes and giving out rock and roll stories.
An assortment of goodies was exchanged, ranging from coffee and pastries from Traveler’s
Coffee. Even the dogs were well fed with treats from Desert Wolf Sweet Shop. Games were
provided ranging from cornhole, giant Jenga, soccer, Plinko, and building Legos that put a small on people’s faces.
For an alternate form of exercise, Zumba and Tai Chi demos were offered. Kids got their faces painted. Prizes, raffles, and giveaways like Fresno Grizzlies tickets were given out.
Participants came out to support the Clovis Police Department, Clovis Fire Department, and American Ambulance at their booths. The event ended just in time before it started to rain.
For Deputy General Services Director for the City of Clovis, Bethany Berube, this being her first time as an official coordinator, the event exceeded her expectations. “I oversee Recreations, Senior Center, and Transit, and this is my first year being a part of the
planning for Trail Fest. This year we had a really great turnout which was exciting,” Berube told the Clovis Roundup. “Last year we had about 5,000 participants, and this year it feels like substantially more. It certainly felt like there were a lot of people on the trail today.”
She had her own favorite highlights. “One of the exciting things that we had for recreation
this year was our huge basketball blowup for everyone to come out and enjoy the basketball hoops, so that was fun. We had the dogs from (Central Valley) SPCA that were up for adoption. People always enjoy that. Seeing our Kaiser booth is a big one where people come out to get information about health care.”
People’s reactions, compliments, and joy made it all worthwhile. “I love seeing the smiling faces. I think everyone is just having such a great time. It’s such a positive event, so it’s great to be out here and be a part of it,” said Berube. “Everyone I talked to said they really love engaging with the booths. That’s what we aim to do out here is to make each of the booths sections have some sort of engaging component for all the families, and they really love that.”
The city’s plan is to do it even bigger next year for the 10-year event. What they have in store won’t be divulged yet, but their goal is to build off another successful Trail Fest.
Article by Steven Sanchez