The Spokane Hoopfest Association has been certified by Guinness World Records as the largest 3-on-3 street basketball tournament in the world. The official record is based on the 2009 tournament which included 26,656 players on 6,725 teams. Nearly 8000 teams participated in the 2010 tournament which included 3,000 volunteers, 200,000 players and fans, on 430 courts spanning 40 downtown city blocks. Hoopfest attracts all sizes and skills of player and the Elite divisions include many former CBA and European players, college and high school standouts!

The Lilac Bloomsday Run, a 7.46 mile run through downtown and surrounding Spokane, was born during the running boom that swept the nation in the late 1970s. Spokane was enjoying renewed interest in its downtown area after hosting the 1974 World's Fair and a fun run that took advantage of the newly renovated downtown and Riverfront Park seemed a natural fit. On May 1, 1977, over a thousand runners participated in the inaugural Bloomsday Run. Olympic gold and silver medalist Frank Shorter crossed the line first. In subsequent years the Bloomsday field continued to grow, and in 1996 the event reached its all-time high of 61,298.

Expo '74 was an environmentally themed world's fair in Spokane, Washington that ran from May to November 1974. Spokane was the smallest city to ever host a world's fair at the time. The fair had over 5 million visitors (about 30 times its population) and was considered a success, revitalizing the region and the City.

After the event closed, the exposition site became the 100 acre Riverfront Park. Several structures built for the fair are still standing. The United States Pavilion still houses an IMAX theater. The "Gondola Ride" chairlift is still an attraction today. The Washington State Pavilion still stands and is used as the Spokane Convention Center and the Opera House. The Carousel remains a popular attraction.