MiralesteFest Coming to the Peninsula Next Summer
Another Miraleste-based community event is on its way to the Peninsula.
Whether you went to the Miraleste High School reunion in 2023 or missed that event, the reunion committee has another event in the works: MiralesteFest is set for next July 25-26.
The two-day event will run both Friday and Saturday from 4-11 p.m., featuring activities like music, food, dancing, and an opportunity to reconnect with old friends and the community on the Miraleste campus.
“MiralesteFest is in response to the community really supporting the Miraleste All-Class Reunion in 2023,” said Jack Alexander, who is heading up the planning for the event. “We got a lot more people than we had hoped for, which was a great thing. Many of those people have continued to voice through emails and texts [and] seeing them in person how much they would like to do it again, because it was really something special for them.”
For some people, the all-class reunion was the first time they had “come home” to Miraleste since the 1970s.
Alexander is motivated by both the people who attended the reunion as well as those who were not able to make it. MiralesteFest will provide a second opportunity for those who missed the last reunion to attend, and it will also be a more inclusive event. Rather than catering only to alumni, MiralesteFest is open to the entire Miraleste High School community as a whole and is designed to be more of a family-style event.
While some elements of the event will be similar to the reunion — they will have special Miraleste awards and a memorial room, for example — MiralesteFest is designed to be a new experience that will bring back the same joy and energy felt at the reunion.
“I'm not a sequel kind of person,” Alexander said. “So for me to agree to do this, I'm like, ‘How do I maintain kind of the framework of the first one, which was reconnecting, coming home, paying your respects, thanking your teachers [and] seeing your old friends and neighbors, but also make it a completely new experience for the 1,300 people that already came back?”
Alexander has made some tweaks that he believes will be beneficial for those attending. For example, the choice to split the event into two days will make it more manageable on a hot July day, rather than the reunion’s single 12-hour day. He also plans to have all the concerts on the main lawn rather than spread across the campus, which will simplify the event, bring everyone together and minimize the need to travel from place to place on campus. Holding events on the lawn will allow people to enjoy the views from the campus while enjoying the music.
“The thing I'm just looking forward to is the smiles on [people’s] faces,” Alexander said. “It was so neat to see how excited people got [at the reunion] by just running into somebody they didn't expect to see or seeing how they feel coming back to a place they hadn't been to for such a long time. There was just an energy that was created by people being so excited, not only to be there, but to be welcomed back.”
Alexander and the team also aim to do some fundraising for the school and the district to help maintain the campus and give back. After the reunion in 2023, they donated their surplus cash. This time, they hope to donate even more.
With still about ten months to go until the event, Alexander has a number of things in the works, including “several very big surprises” that are yet to be revealed. He did share that he has already booked popular cover bands K-Tel All-Stars and Max80s to bring a good mix of ’70s and ’80s music to MiralesteFest next year.
“Just picture being outside, having some fun, having some food, having some laughs, catching up with old friends, then dancing barefoot on the grass, listening to the music you grew up with, looking at the incredible views from your campus,” Alexander said. “I mean, sounds like a pretty special opportunity that nobody's going to want to miss.”
Dates are July 25 - 26, 2025 from 4 - 11 PM.
All alumni and faculty and staff will be invited as well as friends and those who only attended a short time, and parents of alumni welcome.
Band on Friday night is the K-Tel All stars and on Saturday night Max 80s.
Water polo alumni game, photo booths, giant group photo, memorial room, Marauder merchandise, etc.
Food trucks, drinks and snacks, and a lot of surprises.
