🎉 Finding Newton’s Identity

Kassandra Gray
Sep 30
2 min read

The City of Festivals

Every small city needs an identity. It’s what draws visitors, keeps residents engaged, and builds a sense of pride and unity. Some towns lean into food, others into history or lifestyle. Newton’s challenge has been finding its “signature.”

For years, we’ve tried to make the Folk Art Festival the heartbeat of downtown. While it’s a great event, it hasn’t yet taken root as our defining feature. But Newton already has another tradition with deep history — the Old Soldiers Reunion — one of the longest-running patriotic celebrations in the country.

What if we leaned into what Newton already does well and built on it? What if we became known as A Festive City?

🔹 A Year-Round Identity

Festivals are community. They bring people downtown, showcase local talent, and celebrate traditions. They’re also something Newton already does — we just need to expand and innovate.

Imagine Newton with a calendar of Festivals that mark each season:

January: A Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Festival, honoring unity and service.
Spring: The Old Soldiers Reunion anchored by history and tradition.
Summer / July 4th: A Night Festival ending in a lighted parade — kids decorating bikes with lights, families gathering downtown, and patriotic music filling the streets.
Fall: A Expand the Makers to a larger festival , highlighting all things fall, celebrating the warm cozy feelings that everyone loves about this season.
Winter / Holidays: A Festival of Lights with a parade with floats, music, and a downtown tree lighting.

🔹 Why This Works

Consistency: Instead of one big event, Newton would have multiple touchpoints that bring people back downtown.
Community Involvement: Schools, churches, nonprofits, and businesses can all participate.
Tourism & Visibility: A city known for festivals will draw visitors year-round.
Family-Friendly Fun: Festivals create memories — kids grow up looking forward to them, and adults bring guests to join the fun.

🔹 Building Community Pride Through Celebration

Being “A Festive City” gives Newton a unique and authentic identity. It builds on our traditions, celebrates our people, and creates new reasons for families and visitors to gather together.

✨ The Bottom Line

The Folk Art Festival and Old Soldiers Reunion don’t have to stand alone. By weaving them into a larger vision — with seasonal Festivals that unite our city — Newton can build a lasting identity that feels alive, joyful, and uniquely ours.

The future looks bright — let’s build it together.