Harvest Festival starts Friday

It’s time for the harvest. The community Harvest Festival, that is.

You can set aside this Friday, Saturday and Sunday for some fun, relaxation, and excitement. It’s the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce’s 6th Annual Harvest Festival, Sept. 15-17, located at North Dam Park and Banks Lake Park.

There’s a barbecue competition and tasting, a wellness powwow, a motorcycle poker run, human foosball competition, vendor fair, a Run the Dam race, kids’ games, a beer garden that features football games Saturday and Sunday, with a bit of live music added, and a gathering of people who worked on the Third Powerhouse at Grand Coulee Dam 50 years ago.

The barbecue competition will be held both Saturday and Sunday, with sampling from noon to 3 p.m. each day. Barbecuers pay entry fees from $150 to $185 to enter the Pacific Northwest BBQ Association competition. Top prize for the grand champion prize winner is $2,000, with the reserve champion receiving $1,000. In the various categories, prize money ranges from $50 to $125. The winners will be announced at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

This is the fourth year for the barbecue competition.

Thirty vendors will have their food and craft displays ready for visitors.

If you enjoy foosball, the festival offers a new twist to the game — human foosball. Check with the chamber for all the details and then put together a team to compete. This is the second year for this event. There will be cash prizes for the Human Foosball event. There’s still time to enter, but you’d better hurry.

The Run the Dam race on Saturday features 5K, 10K and half-marathon runs that begin at the east end of Grand Coulee Dam, go over the top of the dam, then end at Banks Lake Park. There’s still time to enter at runthedam.com.

Coulee Medical Center has set its second annual Gathering of Wellness powwow for the Friday of the Harvest Festival. That event will start at 10 a.m. at space across the highway from the hospital near the grain elevators. Indian tacos will be served there at noon. You will also notice the large teepee that was located on the CMC campus last week.

A motorcycle “Poker Run” is also part of the Harvest Festival. Registration is Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. Riders will travel 160 miles and end up at the festival site no later than 3 p.m.

There’s fun for kids also. There will be pumpkin and zucchini decorating, water balloons, face painting and a bubble-making station for kids.