The Wenatchee River Salmon Festival: Reflecting on the Power of Partnerships

Set in the beautiful Cascade Mountains in Leavenworth, Washington, the Salmon Fest is an outdoor education adventure not to be missed.  This 21 year old nationally award winning special event provides inter-active inter-generational natural resource education, shares the cultural significance of salmon to the people of the northwest, promotes outdoor recreation for all ages, and boosts the tourism economy of central Washington in a fun and entertaining way.

Located on the grounds of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, the Salmon Fest becomes alive with "edu-taining" fun activities, exhibits, salmon and wildlife viewing, music and storytelling, art and music, hands-on watershed experiences, food, and meaningful cultural sharing with Native Americans in their traditional tribal village.

Salmon Fest brings partners and funding "spawnsors" from local, state, and government agencies, corporate and booster community contributors, schools, private businesses, and non-profit organizations.  A core planning team, fifty partnerships, hundreds of volunteers, youth crews and resource specialists dedicate several thousand hours of their time each year to produce this nature festival to the public for free in a creative nature filled venue.  The festival key hosts are the Friends of Northwest Hatcheries, Leavenworth Fisheries Complex, Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, and the Chelan PUD.  Many other agencies also provide significant support.

Linking science and fun and meeting outdoor education goals set by teachers, schools and Washington state mandates created the need for a sanctioned festival curriculum.  This curriculum was developed in 1994 by education specialists on the planning team.  Annual updates and consistent evaluation of the curriculum festival guide in one of the top priorities for the fesitival staff. The first two days of the Salmon Fest are School Days providing hands-on interdisciplinary learning for 3,000 students from more than 80 classrooms. The weekend days are open to the general public with more than 5,000 people in attendance. This year's event goes from September 29 - October 2. 

Please visit our website at Salmonfest.org.  For more information, contact Executive Director Corky Broaddus or Festival Director and President of Friends of Northwest Hatcheries, Betsy McIndoe at (509)-548-6662.