Record Salmon Festival turnout points toward a lasting home at Rocky Reach

WENATCHEE — A temporary move to Rocky Reach now appears likely to become a lasting home for the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival, as record attendance and changes at its former location reshape the event’s future.

Chelan County PUD Visitor Services Manager Kristin Lodge told commissioners Oct. 5 that the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery no longer has sufficient space to accommodate a festival of its current size.

The PUD initially agreed to host the event during a five-year construction period at the hatchery. This year marked its fifth year at Rocky Reach, where more than 6,200 people attended over three days.

After asking the hatchery and the Friends of Northwest Hatcheries about the festival’s future, Lodge said organizers learned that the hatchery’s operational needs have overtaken space previously available for programming and parking.

Continuing at Rocky Reach would depend on whether hosting remains in the district’s best interest and has the support of its leadership, she said. Commissioners discussed that prospect but took no formal action on a permanent location.

Commissioner Steve McKenna said the festival’s success had prompted him to revisit the question of its future, including whether the PUD could continue meeting the demands of parking, school buses and growing attendance.

Lodge said the facility still has room to accommodate more visitors.

“I appreciate you asking that, and it’s something that I want to continue to reflect upon, but I can share, even with our record numbers this year, we have room to continue to grow,” she said.

The PUD’s presentation reported total attendance of 6,260, including 2,800 students, teachers and chaperones during two school days and 3,460 visitors on Community Day. School participation included 77 classes from 40 schools across five counties.

Lodge described Community Day as the festival’s largest single day on record.

The event brings together Chelan PUD, Friends of Northwest Hatcheries and the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, along with tribes, natural resource agencies, museums, nonprofits, educators, community organizations and business sponsors.

This year’s theme, “We Are River People,” included more than 45 Native American educators and exhibitors representing 11 tribes and bands throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Lodge said those partnerships provide opportunities for visitors to learn directly from educators and subject matter experts while also creating space for intertribal connection and celebration. She thanked Commissioner Carnan Bergren for participating in the Tribal Blessing that opened Community Day.

Behind the educational programming was a substantial volunteer effort. Some 160 community volunteers helped carry out the event’s logistics, separate from the educators, station leaders and exhibitors.

Many volunteers return because the festival has already touched their lives, Lodge said. Organizers also recruit high school students seeking community service hours, providing coaching and oversight as they help younger students participate.

For Lodge, that connection spans three generations.

She attended the festival as a third grader during one of its earliest years at the hatchery. Decades later, she brought her own children. They now join her as volunteers.

“So I hear the same story from many attendees,” Lodge said. “And when I look at those 77 classes that came through Rocky Reach this year, I like to imagine them coming back as adults someday to share it with their own children.”

Commissioner Randy Smith said his 6- and 8-year-old grandchildren attended this year and continued talking about the experience as they fell asleep that night and again the next morning.

The festival also complements other educational visits to Rocky Reach. Lodge said third graders learn about natural resources and stewardship through the Salmon Festival, while many return as fourth graders to learn about electricity generation and the Columbia River’s hydroelectric dams.

Continued growth would bring additional logistical demands, with parking the largest hurdle.

Lodge said organizers have discussed shared transportation and additional buses if attendance grows substantially. Link Transit has helped shuttle visitors across the site, including between distant parking areas and the park.

General Manager Kirk Hudson said highway and railroad safety were major concerns when the PUD first considered hosting the festival. Staff had to plan how to move visitors and school buses safely off and then back on Highway 97A and through the facility.

He credited the team with working through those challenges rather than allowing them to prevent the event.

Planning for next year is already underway, Lodge said.

“So we’ve had the opportunity to learn and to grow, and I feel comfortable that we see a path forward into the future.”

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media