Skagit County kicks off the NW fairs & festivals season
Skagit County kicks off the NW fairs & festivals season
By Daina Bussing
June brings the end of school and the beginning of summer but also the start of the fairs and festivals season that is a tradition for many families across the great Northwest. Friday, June 18th, Skagit County kicked off it’s season with the 73rd Annual Berry Dairy Days Festival in Burlington featuring 10k & 2-mile Road Runs, a half-marathon race, a parade, fireworks, a car show, lots of great food including the annual Kiwanis BBQ, activities for the kids including bouncy houses, live entertainment and or course… strawberry shortcake!
This year more than 3,000 people, both locals and many out-of-towners, filled Skagit river park for the Firecracker Soccer Tournament sponsored by Sims Honda. The tournament which ran from the 18th to the 20th consisted of 255 teams with three levels of play including premier, select and competitive and age divisions for girls and boys U11-U19. The final standings for the tournament can be found at http://www.pugetsoundsocceracademy.com/tournaments/diadora/
The fun continued as the Buckaroo Blues Band entertained for the 8th consecutive year prior to the annual fireworks show. Spectators lined up to watch the band featuring “Teddy Bear Cloer” and “Darren – The Big Guy – Wayne” on lead guitar, “Pat-Man Tennis” on pedal steel guitar, “Country-Mo Hargrove” on Drums and “Funky-Roger Grover” on bass. The band also brought with them special guest singer “Flo – KMPS Traffic-Maven – Cloer”. Playing a mix of Top-40 Country and Classic Rock & Pop their song selections pleased all crowd goers, young and old and had many on their feet dancing in the grass as they awaited the fireworks display which was went off around 10 pm with a patriotic soundtrack that left everyone in awe.
Next up will be the 76th Annual Loggerodeo, which is one of the longest running 4th of July Celebrations in the United States, June 30th through July 4th. Loggerodeo includes chainsaw carving competitions, a grand parade and kiddie parade, carnival, live entertainment, many food vendors, the old time logging show, foot race, firefighters muster, SW Museum Displays, performances by the “Wild Women of Woolley”, bluegrass jamboree, live rodeo, fireworks a street dance and more. For information visit www.loggerodeo.com.
Other local events to watch out for are the Bellingham Festival of Music, July 1st through the 18th (www.bellinghamfestival.org) featuring renowned musical director Michael Palmer and the internationally acclaimed Bellingham Festival Orchestra, the Skagit County Fair, August 11th through the 14th (www.skagitcounty.net/fair), the NW Washington Fair in Lynden, August 16th through the 20th (www.nwwafair.com/) featuring live entertainment by Wierd Al Yankovic, Kenny Rogers, Rick Springfield, Casting Crowns and more. And those are just to name a few… For a more extensive listing of all of the fairs and festivals in the pacific northwest, visit www.northwestcharm.com/wa/subjects/fairs or google “Washington State Fairs and Festivals”.
There is so much to do in our beautiful state! Have a great summer and try to get your family out and enjoy Washington and it’s great cities, including some of the best live entertainment on the entire West Coast!
