Music, food trucks, a dunk tank, booths, 18 carnival rides and Wilson the 12th Pony with thousands to enjoy it all.

Now, that’s a 25th anniversary party.

The city of Federal Way is hosting a four-day carnival in celebration of 25 years since it was incorporated in 1990.

Organized by Steve McNey with significant help from the Parks Department, the event was created from the ground up and has been in the works for more than four months.

“This is not like anything we’ve ever done before,” McNey said when asked how this event would compare to past anniversary celebrations. “This is more similar to what Federal Way Festival Days used to be.”

Running from June 18-21 at Town Square Park and the adjacent empty lot known as the former Target site, Federal Way community members are invited to partake in the festivities.

A 35-by-40 foot stage will hold 47 members of the Federal Way Symphony with a 300-seat area for people to watch. The Michelle Taylor band, police band and a cover band called Kalimba will also perform throughout the weekend.

More than 20 vendors will be scattered throughout the park, along with pony rides and a bounce house.

The carnival will include a six-story Ferris wheel, several kiddy rides and a ride called the “gravitron.”

“This happened to be the one weekend out of 12 carnival companies that was available,” McNey said. “They do the Clark County fair, a lot of major events.”

But when McNey looked at the available weekend, he realized it was the same weekend as the U.S. Open, a golf tournament taking place at University Place.

“Some people might look at that as a negative but it’s actually a positive,” McNey said. “Our hotels in Federal Way are completely booked … Hotels from Vancouver to Vancouver are booked. There are thousands of people in town.”

McNey said there’s going to be a lot of people driving through Federal Way on their way to the U.S. Open and a lot of families aren’t going every day, which means they’ll have the opportunity to attend the city’s anniversary event.

“This is a great way to highlight Federal Way,” he said.

But without a doubt, traffic will increase.

McNey said the Federal Way Police Department “is on it.”

Traffic officers will be out to help direct traffic and they already have a flow plan.

“It’s going to be a busy weekend in town, there’s no question about that,” he said. “You can’t have max capacity in your hotels without increased traffic.”

There’s also a plan for parking at the event. People will be able to park in the Town Square Parking lot, which has about 200 spaces, with VIP parking for top sponsors.

Additionally, the Transit Center is nearly empty during weekends and the city has an agreement with Walmart to use its parking lot.

City officials have also notified all the businesses in the 24 Hour Fitness plaza and Woodstone Credit Union has offered up their parking as well.

McNey said there may also be parking available at the former TOP Foods site, which is currently a “big vacant lot.”

“So, that’s one of the advantages of having 21 acres of vacant space downtown not developed yet, so we can park,” McNey joked. “Our goal, obviously, is to not have that problem in the future.”

(The city recently purchased 7.5 of those acres for future development.)

McNey said the event is prepared to hold 5,000 people but he’s arranged it so that in the unlikely event only 500 show up, it will still look full. He anticipates “a couple thousand” to attend.

Working on $25,000 allotted by the City Council and $20,000 in sponsorships, McNey’s goal is to raise another $5,000 next week.

Gold sponsors include Wild Waves, Pete von Reichbauer, the King County Aquatic Center, Black Bear Diner, Waste Management, Pacific Medical and Woodstone Credit Union. Other notable sponsors are Master Na’s Taekwondo and BECU. Individuals can donate at the $250 level, McNey added.

The main event will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 20 with the dedication of Pete von Reichbauer Way South to the King County Councilman, a mayoral proclamation, speeches about the anniversary and a performance by the Federal Way Symphony.

“I can’t think of a single individual whose done more for South King County than Pete von Reichbauer,” McNey said. “I mean, even the small things like preserving Bingaman Pond, or not so small, rebuilding Redondo Road.”

A large 12-foot “Pete von Reichbauer Way South” sign will go up on 20th Avenue South to recognize him for  his local contributions.

“A lot of cities do not name things after people until after they’re gone. And I know the mayor feels this way, I feel this way, I fundamentally disagree with that,” McNey said. “We have the Maryann Mitchell [overpass] when you come in off of 320th but she never got to see that. I think it’s important to recognize people who have had an impact on our community and our lives in a positive way while they’re still around to see it.”

The 25th anniversary event will also be host to several booths, including the Pacific Bonsai Museum, King County Aquatic Center, Waste Management, Black Bear Diner, the Federal Way Farmers Market, Wild Waves, the city of Federal Way and the Federal Way Historical Society, among others.

The Communities In Schools booth will have a donation drop-off for a school supply drive, which was put together by Councilman Martin Moore and Communities In Schools Executive Director Tracy Oster.

For more information about the city’s 25th anniversary, visit the city’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CityofFederalWay.