STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Al McCord is preparing Smoked Five-Spice Asian Chicken over a medley of Brussels sprouts, carrots and onions topped with Ballard cheese.
Hailey Fire Chief Craig Aberbach is getting ready to serve up some Smokin’ BBQ Chicken Legs with his firehouse crew.
The two are on the serving line for the third annual Wood River Valley HarvestFest on Saturday, Sept. 16.
The largest food festival in the Sun Valley area, the HarvestFest was founded by the Local Food Alliance, in 2013 to bring more locally and regionally grown food to the plates of Wood River Valley families.
“It’s all-Idaho protein and produce. The idea is to have restaurants source and serve food grown by local Idaho farmers and have diners try restaurants they might never have tried before,” said organizer Ali Long. “Participants can feel good because they’re enjoying the harvest season and trying foods made by Hailey chefs using foods produced by Idaho growers.”
- This year’s event will kick off with a Food Fair & Market from 3 to 5 p.m. outside the Wood River Sustainability Center, 308 S. River Street in Hailey. The fair has been expanded to include a mini-Saturday farmer’s market that will be open to everyone, whether or not they’re taking part in the restaurant walk.
HarvestFest ticket holders will be invited to sample appetizers prepared by local chefs, as well as wines from top Idaho vineyards, during the fair.
- The HarvestFest Restaurant Walk will follow from 5 to 7 p.m. and will include tastes from 14 participating Hailey restaurants, along with two beer or wine tickets.
Participating restaurants include the Lago Azul, Wood River Sustainability Center, the Hailey Firehouse, The Red Shoe, daVinci’s Sawtooth Brewery, KB’s, Dang’s Thai Cuisine, Hank and Sylvie’s, Jersey Girl, International Cowboy Cocina, divine, CK’s, Smokey Bone BBQ and A Taste of Thai.
The restaurants are grouped closely together near Hailey’s Main Street corridor so that diners can stroll from one to the other. Participants will be given either green sporks or orange sporks, with the green spork holders encouraged to start with the restaurants to the east of the Sustainability Center and the orange spork holders to the west in order to spread out diners.
- Syringa Mountain School—the valley’s Waldorf-inspired charter school—will entertain young’uns ages 2 through 12 with crafts, games, archery, face painting and snacks at the Syringa Kids Corral from 5 to 8 p.m., while parents embark on the restaurant walk. Cost is $20 per child.
- Following the Restaurant Walk, HarvestFest goers are invited to circle back to the Wood River Sustainability Center for dessert and a street party.
Hand-crafted desserts and fresh brewed coffee will be provided by Toni’s Ice Cream, Atkinsons’ Market, BlackOwl Coffee, The Coffee House and Hailey Coffee Company.
- The Heaters, who have been serving up classic rock and roll cover songs since the 1970s, will provide live music during a HarvestFest Street Party that will run from 7 to 10 p.m. outside the Sustainablity Center.
The dance is open to non-ticket holders, as well as ticket holders, with wine, beer and handcrafted cocktails from the Roadbars drink truck available for purchase.
Hailey resident GeeGee Lowe was among those who took part in last year’s event. And she had a blast.
“Gobble, gobble, gobble. What a great evening in Hailey!” she said.
Tickets for the HarvestFest Restaurant Walk are $45 for adults, available at www.WRVHarvestfest.org. The walk is free for children10 and under.
It’s probably best not to wait, cautioned Jeff Bacon, executive director of The Chamber: “We had to turn away a hundred people last year,” he said.
Sponsors include Atkinsons' Market, Sun Valley Magazine, Key Private Bank, Source, D.L. Evans Bank, Webb, Judy's Design House, American Capital Advisory, Clear Mind Graphics, Albertsons and The Chamber.