County Fairs, Festivals Keep Fun Rolling
County fairs and small-town festivals are the selection of the week in our corner of the Inland Northwest. You can head to Cusick, Wash., for the North Pend Oreille County Fair, visit the Benton Franklin County Fair in Kennewick, or go to Coeur d’Alene for its annual North Idaho Fair.
Other events this weekend include Hot August Nights in Lewiston, the Pioneer Power Show in Union Gap, Wash., the National Lentil Festival in Pullman, the Priest Lake (Idaho) Huckleberry Festival, and Green Bluff’s Peach Festival.
Huckleberry Festival
North Idaho is well known for its huckleberries, and the tasty berry will be on display Saturday during the second annual Priest Lake Huckleberry Festival. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Milepost 27 on Highway 57.
There will be arts and crafts, food booths, hands-on crafts for kids, live entertainment, artist demonstrations and a huckleberry bake-off contest.
To get to Priest Lake from Spokane, head north on Highway 2 to Priest River, then north on Highway 57.
Kennewick fair
The Benton Franklin County Fairgrounds will host fair events Tuesday through Aug. 28. Gates are open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to midnight Aug. 27 and 28.
In addition to the usual food, animals, exhibits and carnival, there will be live entertainment daily at 7 p.m.
Performers include Credence Clearwater Revisited on Tuesday, Sawyer Brown on Wednesday and Collin Raye next Thursday. Lee Ann Womack will perform at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Aug. 27 and Michael Peterson will perform at those hours Aug. 28.
Other scheduled highlights include a rodeo at 7 p.m. daily beginning Wednesday. Reserved grand stand seating is $6; general admission seating is included in fair admission. In addition, a demolition derby begins at 6 p.m. Monday. Reserved seating is $9, general admission is $7, and youth is $4.
Fair admission is $8 for adults and $3 for kids 6 to 12. Children 5 and under are free.
To get to Kennewick, head west on I-90 and take Highway 395 south.
It’s a peach
The orchards in Greenbluff, just north of Spokane, will host a peach festival Saturday and Sunday. There will be u-pick peaches and “they picked” fruit for sale.
Many area orchards area will host special events as well as selling peach-related products, such as pies, cobblers and ice cream.
To get to Greenbluff, head north on Highway 2, turn east on Day-Mt. Spokane Road and follow the signs.
Cusick fair
The North Pend Oreille County Fair starts today at the Cusick fairgrounds.
Daily demonstrations include spinning and a blacksmith. Other highlights on Friday include a horse drill team performance at 4:30, and Western games and a potluck at 5 p.m. The Inland Empire Barrel Racing Association competition is at 10 a.m. Saturday, with a car show from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The entertainment lineup includes performances by Jared Wagner at 6 p.m. Friday; Mark Meier at 9 a.m. Saturday; and Branded Hearts at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The rodeo begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Fair admission is $4 for adults and $1 for children in grades one through six. Rodeo performances are $4 with fair admission, or $6 without.
To reach Cusick from Spokane, head north on Highway 2, then take Highway 211 to Highway 20.
Classic cars
It’s time once again for Hot August Nights in Lewiston. Events start with a Show ‘n Shine for classic cars from 3 to 8 p.m. today at Rogers Motors, 16th and 21st.
On Friday, cars will be auctioned from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Red Lion. In Pioneer Park, Loverboy performs at 6, the food festival stays open until 11 p.m., and cruising down Main Street happens 8 to 10 p.m.
On Saturday, a crafts fair runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the YWCA; Show ‘n Shine, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. downtown on Main Street, and Paul Revere and the Raiders at 6 p.m. in Pioneer Park. The food festival remains open until 11.
Admission to the concerts is $18.
To get to Lewiston, either take Highway 95 south from Coeur d’Alene or Highway 195 south from Spokane.
Entertainment unlimited
The North Idaho Fair will be at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds in Coeur d’Alene Wednesday through Aug. 29.
The fair is heavy on entertainment, with daily performances by hypnotist Ken Holloway, Peter and Mary, McRorie (a “futuristic” one-man band) and the Kokomo Beach Band.
A carnival runs noon to 8 p.m. daily.
Other highlights include performances of the CMC Northwest Moto-Cross at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and next Thursday. PRCA rodeo performances start at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 27, 2 p.m. Aug. 28 and 12:30 p.m. Aug. 29.
Fair admission, which includes all special events, is $5.50 for adults and $2 for kids 12 and under.
A slice of history
The Pioneer Power Show takes place at the Central Washington Agricultural Museum showgrounds in Union Gap. Events run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
There will be a threshing bee, antique farm equipment displays, a flea market, food booths, and bread-making demonstrations. There will be a parade at 1 p.m. each day followed by live entertainment at 2.
Union Gap is south of Yakima on Highway 82.
It’s all lentil
Pullman will be Lentil Central Friday and Saturday during the 11th National Lentil Festival. Festival organizers boast that 98 percent of commercial lentils - that’s 135 million pounds - are grown in the Palouse. And did you know that it takes 400 pounds of lentils to fill a child’s inflatable pool?
The event starts with the world’s largest bowl of lentil chilli served free from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday on Main Street. There will also be live entertainment and kids activities.
Saturday’s schedule includes a parade on Grand Avenue and Main Street at 1 p.m. Kids activities, an arts-and-crafts fair and the Lentil Lane food court will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Reaney Park. The public is invited to taste test the entries in the lentil cook-off from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the park.
There will also be microbrew tasting and live entertainment in the park from noon to 5 p.m.
To reach Pullman, head south on Highway 195 from Spokane, then take Highway 270 east for two miles.