Saturday, Aug. 17, is set to mark the 32nd year that uptown Port Townsend has been celebrated as a community through the summer Uptown Street Fair and Parade.

Mari Mullen, executive director of the Port Townsend Main Street Program, explained that the mostly annual event began with a group of “dedicated” uptown merchants, nonprofits and artists, as well as the Port Townsend Arts Guild and the PT Main Street Program planning it.

“The goal was to celebrate the uptown neighborhood, with its unique personality and businesses,” said Mullen, who noted that the original planning group asked the Port Townsend Main Street Program to take on coordinating the event a number of years ago. “Our nonprofit now fundraises for the event, and organizes its permits, volunteers, marketing, parade and entertainment, working with a small Uptown Street Fair planning team.”

Mullen deemed the Uptown Street Fair one of the Port Townsend Main Street Program’s favorite events, since “it really is a chance to showcase the variety of talent we have in our community, with all-day music, local artists, the farmers’ market, and fun for families with art activities.”

Mullen credited local sponsors with “generously” stepping up each year to make the event possible, while the Uptown Pub furnishes it with an outdoor beer garden, “which is always fun.”

Mullen likewise cited the Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Sculpture Race’s “long history” with the Uptown Street Fair as adding “a lot of color” to the street fair’s parade.

“The parade is much anticipated, and reflects the creativity of our community,” Mullen said. “The fair continues to grow, and last year, it was estimated that 3,345 people attended the event.”

The Uptown Street Fair brings together the Port Townsend Farmers’ Market and Arts and Crafts Fair with the Uptown Pub Beer Garden, local food, live entertainment and free art activities, thanks to local business sponsors, collaborating nonprofits and the city of Port Townsend.

The farmers’ market and its food vendors are slated to remain open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., while the Port Townsend Arts Guild’s Arts and Crafts Fair, and the Uptown Pub’s outdoor beer garden, are both set to run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Kiwanis Stars of Tomorrow winner and yo-yo performer Eliot Minarchek is on tap to demonstrate his talents from 9-10 a.m., while the PT Artscape on Lawrence Street coordinates children’s art activities from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and Judith Bows and the Port Townsend Public Library present “Family Story Time” from 11-11:30 a.m.

The “Heard of Cats” band is expected to perform rock classics and upbeat original songs at 10 a.m., followed by Ginnie Porter and George Radebaugh performing jazz classics at 11 a.m., and the “Intensive Porpoises” band performing “groove-infused, energetic and danceably jazzy top-40 jams and mighty overtones of chillaxation” from noon to 1 p.m.

Jack Dwyer and Jack Tierney are listed as performing from 1-1:45 p.m., leading into the Unbelievably Colorful Yet Brief Uptown Street Fair Parade at 2 p.m., followed by the Unexpected Brass Band Jam at 2:25 p.m.

The afternoon is slated to conclude with the Seattle-based “Afterlife Giftshop” band performing “psychedelic soft rock” from 2:45-4 p.m., followed by DJ Lunch Lady “serving up beats hotter than the cafeteria’s chili” from 4:15-5 p.m.

For public safety, Lawrence and Tyler streets will be closed for the Uptown Street Fair and the Port Townsend Farmers’ Market location on Polk Street that Saturday.

The Uptown Street Fair is part of the Soundcheck festival, which itself comes under the auspices of the Port Townsend Creative District.

For more information about the Uptown Street Fair, visit ptmainstreet.org.

For the complete Soundcheck lineup, visit ptsoundcheck.com.