27th Annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival
Various LocationsSave the Dates the 2023 Trailing of the Sheep Festival: October 4 - 8. Sheep have been trailing through the Wood River Valley of Idaho for well over a century and are an integral part of Idaho’s heritage. The iconic Trailing of the Sheep Festival celebrates the sheep, herders, history, and food, of this unique cultural tradition, with the event recognized as one of the “Top Ten Fall Festivals in the World” by msn.com. Each fall, the Trailing of the Sheep Festival honors the 150+ year annual tradition of moving sheep (‘trailing’) from high mountain summer pastures down through the Valley to traditional winter grazing and lambing areas in the south. This annual migration is living history and the focus of a unique and authentic Festival that celebrates the people, arts, cultures, and traditions of Idaho’s sheep ranching families, highlighting the principal contributors – the Basques, Scottish and Peruvians. The five-day Festival includes nonstop activities in multiple venues - history, folk arts, a Sheep Folklife Fair, lamb culinary offerings, a Wool Festival with classes and workshops, music, dance, storytelling, championship Sheepdog Trials and, the always entertaining, Big Sheep Parade with 1,500 sheep hoofing it down Main Street in Ketchum. Festival Highlights ...