BROOKINGS — Crazy Days is being re-christened the Brookings Bonanza with this year’s celebration on July 20.

“Crazy Days used to be this big thing in the community. Everyone came to town for it, because it was a time for businesses to have big sales. And the retail climate these days is just very different than it was in the 1970s,” Kirsten Gjesdal, executive director of Downtown Brookings, said. “The sentiment over the last probably 10 years or so is — 'I wish Crazy Days was like it was in the past.' But we can’t go back to the past days. We can’t do an event like that anymore. It’s just not the way businesses are run in 2024.”

Instead of focusing on deep discounts, the Brookings Bonanza will be a street fair celebration with a petting zoo, games, and live entertainment — plus sales and specials from downtown businesses.

“We kept the Crazy Days name last year, but added in that kind of street fair component. We had really, really great community turn-out,” Gjesdal said. “We extended the hours this year, extended the actual physical space the event takes up — it’s taking up four different roads in downtown Brookings — so we hope to keep it growing and get people’s minds set on this as a community celebration.”

New this year is a day-long variety show — open to anyone.

“We have like a poetry reading, a martial arts showcase, we have a metal band that has signed up,” Gjesdal said. “We have like a ten-year old doing a song and dance routine that she came up with on her own, which is adorable. So that’s what we want to show — that there are so many different talents and skill-sets and interests in our community.”

Anyone can request a time slot on stage through the website http://www.downtownbrookings.com. They’re also seeking volunteers to help with the attractions. Events this year include lawn games, a rubber duck race, hula hoop and pickleball contests, face painting, and a slow-motion bike race.

“We will be timing people riding a bike from one line to the other,” Gjesdal said. “Whoever at the end of the day has done it the slowest — has taken the most time to cross that finish line without touching their feet on the ground — will win a nice prize.”

Another bike-related event is part of the kids' sidewalk chalk activity.

“We have a bicycle blender,” Gjesdal said. “You peddle the bicycle to run the blender, and we’re using that to make chalk paints so the kids can paint all over the road and on the sidewalks.”

The weekly Farmers Market is also downtown that day, along with this year’s Kidpreneur Market.

“It’s a market that’s just for kid entrepreneurs,” Gjesdal said. “They come and they make posters, and we work with the economic development corporation to do a training and show them — you know, how to sell things, how to price things. Then they get a chance to actually sell their products and services.”

The Downtown Brookings group is also hosting two fundraisers. For $5 per attempt, attendees can select a key from a pile and try to open a cage containing a prize donated by Kool Beans. 

“And then we’re also doing a Kiss the Pig fundraiser,” Gjesdal said. “We have a number of well-known community people assigned to a jar, and you can come and put your money in their jar. And whichever jar has collected the most money at the end of the day will be kissing a pig on the stage.”

The goal of the day is to introduce visitors to existing downtown businesses.

“So we are doing a receipt raffle,” Gjesdal said. “If you come in, and you buy anything — whether it’s in a retail store or restaurant on the Brookings Bonanza day — you can stop by the Downtown Brookings booth, just show us your receipt, and then you can enter a raffle for every purchase that you make downtown.”

The drawing will be held at the close of day, and there’s no need to be present to win. After the booths are cleared from the streets, the annual Fire Department Street Dance will be held downtown as well.

Gjesdal said they hope to introduce visitors to great things already happening in downtown Brookings. 

“We want it to be a big, helpful, and supportive event for our small businesses,” Gjesdal said. “There’s a lot of really great businesses down here. And there will be a number of great businesses moving into downtown over the next few months. And so, we want people to come down and really see that this is a great place to bring your family, and bring your friends, and spend the afternoon.”

Email Jay Roe at jroe@brookingsregister.com.