Wenatchee River Salmon Festival Opens to Public on Sept. 21

The long-running, award-winning Wenatchee River Salmon Festival will be open to the public on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Canoe-carving, fish dissection, salmon life-cycle transitions: all will be covered exhaustively.

"Specialists from around the Pacific Northwest will offer students and visitors opportunities to explore different aspects of fish, wildlife, healthy habitats and watersheds," according to a press release. "The best part? Admission to the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival is completely free."

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After decades of synonymy with Leavenworth, the festival has changed locations. Why the move to Rocky Reach Park and Discovery Center?

"For 30 years, it was held at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery," says Discovery Center manager Kristin Lodge. "But the last three have been held at Rocky Reach. The hatchery has a construction project going on that has a pretty significant [carbon] footprint, so we were able to jump in and help out."

This year's theme is Salmon Symphony; "it's designed to honor the salmon," Lodge says. "But really we're looking at the symbiotic relationship between cultural diversity and educational opportunity and conservation efforts. Those all work together to protect the Columbia River ecosystems. So it's a celebration of coming together!"

"We have tribal representatives from 11 tribes and bands throughout the plateau region and the Pacific Northwest and beyond."

But first come Thursday and Friday - during which time Rocky Reach will take on the appearance of a utopian children's village, Lodge says.

"We've got 17 acres and we turn the space into an outdoor classroom. It's absolutely a celebration - so much fun to share with our registered third and fourth graders. I think we have 77 classes registered to attend, but so we're anticipating right around 2,000 kids."