SPOKANE, Wash. – Hoopfest is a major event for downtown Spokane, drawing large crowds and boosting local businesses. Mark Starr, owner of David’s Pizza, highlighted the unique impact of Hoopfest compared to other weekends.
“You have to prepare for it. Yes, it’s going to be busy, but it’s busy like you’ve never seen busy,” said Starr. “We actually open up at 8 o’clock in the morning both Saturday and Sunday as opposed to 11.”
Starr emphasized that Hoopfest is the restaurant’s biggest weekend of the year, with visitors coming from far and wide. “Well, the answer is yes they’re coming in from out of the area,” he added. “All your hotels are full and we’re talking all the way out into the Valley and all the restaurants are full.”
Kate Hudson, Visit Spokane’s public relations director, shared her enthusiasm for the event. “I love the vibe. I love the energy, and I love all the people having such a great time. It’s really fun to watch,” she said.
Hudson stated that weekends like Hoopfest have a significant economic impact on the area. “It’s a huge economic impact for Spokane County. They estimate about $47 million is brought in for the area which is huge,” she said.
The event attracts a large number of people, with Hudson noting, “We’re looking at 250,000 people crammed into a small space in downtown Spokane. Not many cities can pull this off. Spokane does it very well.”
Despite road closures during the event, Starr expressed confidence in the influx of customers. “How people say they’re unable to do business is just a head scratcher to me,” he said. “You can’t do business if you don’t have people downtown. That much we can all agree on is this brings a lot of people downtown.”
Welcoming the crowds, Starr mentioned, “Just a lot of fun, everybody’s having a great time,” with visitors often stopping by David’s Pizza for water bottle refills or to use the restroom.
https://www.spokanehoopfest.net/
https://www.visitspokane.com/events/hoopfest/
