Sheep festival weathers early winter storm
Attendees enjoy activities indoors and outside
Cold temperatures and sporadic snow showers could not keep spectators away from the beloved Trailing of the Sheep parade.
Acee Laudert, the daughter of Allan Laudert, continued her father’s tradition of camp cooking and cowboy coffee outside at the Community Campus in Hailey.
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Bundled up and bearing the weekend’s early winter storm, participants and attendees of the 12th annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival came out en masse to celebrate the heritage and culture of Idaho’s sheep-herding tradition. The approaching inclement weather, a mix of snow and cold temperatures, forced festival organizers to make a quick decision to move Saturday’s Folklife Fair, scheduled at Robert McKercher Park in Hailey, to the Community Campus.
“You could not fit one more person at the Community Campus,†said festival Director Linnea Collins.
Dog trial handlers told Collins it was one of the best venues they had experienced, and they are all eager to come back and hope to have the trials extended to more than two days.
Cowboy singer and songwriter Brenn Hill, folksinger and Grammy Award-winner Rosalie Sorrels as well as the Western Folklife Center’s Hal Cannon performed in front of a full audience on Friday and Saturday evening.
“We took two buses filled with people to the Sheepherder Walk with John Peavey and Ivan Swaner,†Collins said. “People put on extra clothes and came out.â€
Despite cold temperatures on Sunday, Ketchum’s Main Street was lined with bundled-up spectators for the sheep parade, which was the culmination of the festival.
Next year the festival plans to focus on wool to celebrate the United Nations’ declaration of 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibers.
