Annual festival celebrates region's artisans, farmers

One-of-a-kind crafts? Check.

Locally grown produce? Also check.

Great performances, live music and demonstrations of all kinds of activities? Again, check.

If you’re looking for all of the above, there can only be one place where you can find it all — this weekend’s Pend Oreille Harvest Festival, taking place at the Indian Creek Community Forest, 1802 Indian Creek Road, near Newport, Wash.

The festival will take place from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Now in its fourth year, the Pend Oreille Harvest Festival is a free event all about local artisans of crafting, farming, canning, and art of all kinds. In addition, there is also original, live music and other entertainment taking place both days of the festival.

The regional harvest festival was launched as a way to celebrate the local harvest, artists, handcrafted products, live music, storytellers, and others in the community. There was a desire, officials said, to both support and showcase the local cottage industries of the Pend Oreille region.

All of the vendors taking part in the Pend Oreille Harvest Festival are required to have had a hand in making or inventing the products or produce they’re offering for sale at the event, officials said in information posted to their website and Facebook pages.

Six miles north of Newport, the event is both easy to find and fun for the entire family, they said. Located on a former horse ranch, the Indian Creek Community Forest now houses the Kalispel Tribe’s native tree nursery and several other develping projects to benefit the community. Guided tours of the site will be available over the weekend.

More information on the Pend Oreille Harvest Festival can be found online at porta.us and navigating to the harvest festival or by finding them on Facebook at Pend Oreille Harvest Festival 2019.