SCARBOROUGH- Pony rides, dunk tanks, road races, face painting, “The Ultimate Disco Party Band” and a big fireworks show to top it all off not a bad way to say goodbye to summer.

Those are just some of the events that will be featured at this week’s 15th annual Scarborough Community Services’ SummerFest, the town’s annual unofficial farewell to summer as school vacation ends and the school year and fall looms.

This year’s festival will take place on Friday, Aug. 17, 4-10 p.m., at the Clifford Mitchell Sports Complex, just behind Scarborough High School.

When the event started in 1997, it was intended to celebrate the installation of lights at Clifford Mitchell. In the years since, it’s turned in a full-blown family friendly party, with between 4,000 and 6,000 people from Scarborough and the surrounding communities expected to attend.

“We’ve always found that it’s a great way for the kids to reconnect at the end of the summer before school starts,” said Marcia McGinnis, the office manager at Community Services. “It’s become a great way to celebrate the end of the summer, and it’s just a really fun event.”

As in years past, the festival will feature a busy schedule of events, starting with registration for the road races from 4-6 p.m. The kids’ one-mile fun run is then scheduled for 6 p.m., with a 5K run/walk for adults to follow at 6:30.

Beware of Pedestrians, a band made up of students from Scarborough and Gorham high achools with a self-described “pop-punk/alternative sound,” will kick off the live music at 5:30. Following them will be headliners Motor Booty Affair, a disco party band that will take the stage from 7-9 p.m.

After Motor Booty will be the 30-minute fireworks show starting at 9:15, which McGinnis called by far the biggest lure of the festival.

“I can honestly tell you from the very beginning it’s all been very popular,” she said. “But especially the fireworks, that’s what draws people in.”

The event will also feature various games and activities around the complex. In addition to the pony rides, dunk tanks and face painting, there will be a rock climbing wall provided by the Maine Rock Gym in Portland, while an Extreme Air Jumper, which launches people into the air, will also return for the second straight year. Two new additions to festivities this year will be a laser-tag arena and a mechanical bull.

Throughout the festival both commercial and nonprofit vendors will be set up around the complex, both showing off their own menus and selling the traditional carnival staples, as well as novelty items and other knickknacks.

Though the number of commercial vendors has grown considerably since the first festival, McGinnis said that showcasing Scarborough’s nonprofits is still the most important part of the festival.

“The biggest thing for SummrFest is for our nonprofits,” she said. “We really want our nonprofits to be visible so they can get a chance to mix with the community.”

As with the chance for Scarborough’s nonprofits to raise awareness and money, McGinnis said the importance of SummerFest went beyond the fried dough, laser tag games and explosions in the sky.

“It’s creates a great sense of community,” she said. “When you think about it, it’s the only thing that we have throughout the year that actually brings people together.”

The dunk tank is always a popular draw at SummerFest. In this photo from the 2010 event, Scarborough Middle School teacher Tom Griffin teases a dunk tank contestant with a water gun. Seconds later, Griffin was dropped into the tank.
Three helpful assistants take part in a magic act at the 2010 SummerFest.