As the heart of Medford reaches to reclaim its soul, a new festival both symbolizes and contributes to renewed vitality. Yet the center of that center, the downtown, is a place which has often been neglected in recent years. Signs of change are everywhere at last, though, as both Levin and Berryman are quick to acknowledge. There's a lot of new vitality. Revitalization, she believes, is a community-building exercise.
Vitality is people.
It's bringing people back in, getting them enthusiastic about their community, enrolling in projects and festivals and owning their community. The City Council itself began a citywide visioning process in 1997 that included broad citizen involvement, including significant youth participation. The resulting vision statement includes a view of the arts taking a central role downtown, in conjunction with a beautification of the area. Other individual visions came forward, and two rather parallel ones reached Berryman from different directions. Levin suggested creating an event bringing the arts and business community together, through a downtown festival.