Small town festival event website example
The McCleary Bear Festival has been a summer fixture in McCleary, Washington since 1959, and a committee of local volunteers still runs it. Its website covers a three-day weekend of parades, softball, a car show, a soap box derby and the stew the festival is famous for.
The homepage works as a weekend guide. A countdown sits above a Friday to Sunday schedule with times and locations, followed by activity cards that link to dedicated pages, so visitors can plan the whole weekend from one scroll.
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Community festival website design
Cream and soft peach backgrounds paired with near-black text give the site a warm, traditional look. Baskerville and Playfair Display headings add a classic serif touch that suits the festival's small town character without making the schedule harder to scan.
Below the schedule, eight cards introduce the Grand Parade, Bear Festival Stew, Kid Zone, Music in the Park, Softball Tournament, Car Show, Soap Box Derby and Food and Craft Vendors. A long sponsor section closes the page, with tiers named Papa Bear and Baby Bear.
The volunteer committee behind the website
The Bear Festival Stew page holds the site's best piece of history. It traces the festival to 1959, when a local newspaper editor's bear-tasting challenge led residents to form committees and launch what became the Second Growth and Bear Festival.
The people behind the event get their own pages too. The Committee page breaks the work into areas such as the parade, stew, car show, vendors and sponsorships, while the Community Ambassadors page explains how young residents represent McCleary through the year.
Who this website is a good example for
Long-running community festivals. A history page gives a decades-old tradition the room it deserves. Returning families and first-time visitors both get a reason to care before they arrive.
Volunteer-run events. The Committee page shows how planning is split across named roles and sub-committees. It also asks for new board members, turning the site into a recruiting tool.
Festivals with many small activities. Each activity gets its own card and its own page. Visitors can jump straight to the car show or the softball tournament without reading everything else.
Community festival website design ideas
Put the full schedule on the homepage. Listing every day with times and locations answers the most common question in one place. Visitors do not need to open a PDF to plan their weekend.
Add a countdown to the next event. The countdown sits directly above the schedule, so visitors see how close the festival is before they read the details. Reset it after each edition so it keeps pointing forward.
Name sponsor tiers after your theme. Levels like Papa Bear and Baby Bear turn a standard sponsor list into part of the festival's personality. They are also easier for local businesses to remember.
Give your signature tradition its own page. The stew page combines the origin story with how volunteers prepare it each year. One standout tradition can carry a whole event brand.
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