Pumpkin bowling and other children’s activities are on tap for the third annual Twisp Fest on Glover Street, Saturday (Sept. 26). The event kicks off with a community potluck and salmon dinner Friday at TwispWorks.
Two-day event features food, crafts, games
Fall is a season to celebrate this year in Twisp.
After a summer of smoky skies and a bumpy Glover Street, Twisp’s downtown will be freshly paved and the air should be crisp and clean for Twisp Fest, the town’s annual celebration of autumn and the harvest.
The event, in its third year, kicks off once again with a community potluck and salmon dinner, 5–7 p.m. Friday (Sept. 25). Bring a side dish, pull up a chair and enjoy salmon donated by the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and prepared by 1908 BBQ & Bourbon.
Town of Twisp officials confirmed that paving on Glover Street should be completed in time for Saturday’s street festival on the upper two blocks of Glover, between Twisp and Third avenues.
Amber Bosco, the Twisp Chamber of Commerce’s marketing and events coordinator, received the same good news from Assistant Public Works Director Bill Gollen.
“It’s going to be close, but I’m feeling good about the timeline and excited to welcome everyone back onto Glover Street for the festival,” Bosco said.
Twisp Fest runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and will feature the usual children’s games, along with food and craft vendors, but organizers said they want to draw the anticipated 500 or so festival-goers to the downtown businesses as well.
The Chamber’s event application to the Town of Twisp said vendors would be situated in the center of Glover Street, creating walkways between the vendors and Glover’s shops and restaurants.
Food vendors will be limited, Bosco said. Indigenous-owned Twisted Aunties will offer its popular fry bread, powwow burgers, Indian tacos and huckleberry lemonade.
“We really want Twisp Fest to encourage people to eat at our local restaurants and visit the Methow Valley Farmers Market,” Bosco said. “Supporting our downtown businesses is a big part of the purpose of the event.”
On the other hand, some 40 craft vendors are expected to line the two blocks of Glover Street’s commercial zone.
Crafters will peddle their jewelry, woodworking, fiber arts, herbal products, candles, canned goods and more, Bosco said.
Several nonprofits and businesses will have tables as well, including Classroom in Bloom, the Methow Valley Citizens Council and Methow Spires Climbing Gym, which recently announced on Facebook a tentative November opening at its newly constructed site on Glover Street.
Also back this year: the music and dancing.
“We’re keeping it intentionally simple and intimate, similar to the atmosphere at the farmers market, with local musicians performing busking-style,” Bosco said.
Steve Kish is among the local performers, and Balsamroot Boots will kick up some lively line dancing from 2 to 3 p.m.
The Chamber is once again holding a scarecrow contest, with the winner receiving a free roller skating party courtesy of the Methow Valley Community Center.
After a smoky summer spent indoors or dodging the road closures on Glover Street, Twisp is primed for a party.
“We really want Saturday to feel like a celebration of Twisp itself,” Bosco said. “After the summer we’ve had, I think we’re all ready for a reason to come together and have some fun.”
For more information, including how to volunteer or register for the scarecrow contest, visit twispwa.com and click on the Twisp Fest poster.
