STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Trailing of the Sheep Festival Sheepdog Trials will move to a new location this year.
And female ranchers will get their due during the Sheep Tales Gathering when the 26th annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival kicks off with a Farm to Table Dinner on Tuesday, Oct. 4, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 9.
- The Sheep Dog Trials will move from Quigley Canyon—now the site of dozens of new homes—to a large field just north of Indian Creek Road along Buttercup Road.
While the trials will be held there this year, organizers hope to find a new location of at least 30 acres to accommodate the trials in future years.
The trials from Oct. 6 through 9 will involve three to five days with 110 dogs trying to best sheep from John Faulkner's band. Judge Ross Games will join the U.S. Border Collie Handlers Association-sanctioned trials from the United Kingdom.
Hour are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 6-8 and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the Finals on Oct. 9. Tickets are $7 at the door for adults with children under 5 free.
- This year’s Sheep Tales Gathering will feature the stories of four women ranchers.
Marcia Barinaga of Barinaga Ranch has a story steeped in her family’s Basque heritage. She started a dairy ranch on her own in California and it transitioned into one that produces fiber.
Julie Hansmire of Campbell Hansmire Sheep, LLC, will tell how she continued her family ranch in Colorado after losing her husband.
And the mother/daughter team of Andree and Bianca Soares of Talbott Sheep Co. in Los Banos, Calif., will tell how they manage the family’s commercial sheep and goat business while protecting the land from the threat of wildfire.
Multi-generation Idaho rancher Mike Guerry will moderate the discussion, which will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, at The Argyros in Ketchum. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.trailingofthesheep.org or at the door if still available.
- Tickets to the popular For the Love of Lamb Dine-Around, which involves moseying between participating restaurants, are now available. A $25 passport gets participants at least five Lamb baaa-itess from the top restaurants, caterers and chefs in the Wood River Valley. Tastings start act 4:30 and last until all the small plates are gone, which is about 5:30 p.m.
Participating restaurants are Barrio75, Chef Sydney Liepshutz at a pop-up location outside Zions Bank, Limelight Hotel Lounge, Ketchum Grill and Enoteca, Rasberrys, Rominna’s Restaurant, Saffron Indian Cuisine, Serva Peruvian Cuisine, Silver Fox Catering in a pop-up location outside The Argyros, the Tater Trailer and the Sawtooth Club.
Entrees include Senegalese Curried Lamb, Espelette Pepper Braised Lamb Shoulder with Fingerling Potato Skewers, Lamb Keftedes with Apricot Chutney, Tandoori Lamb with Lacha Onion Salad, Braised Leg of Lamb in a Mascarpone Creamy Polenta, Lamb Arayes with Tomato Salsa and Spiced Lamb Chorizo and Tacos with Citrus Chili Cotija, Charred Corn and Cucumber Pico.
For tickets visit https://trailingofthesheep.org/cuisine/for-the-love-of-lamb/?blm_aid=21638.
- This year’s Lamb Fest at the Folk Life Fair will feature Ciclo of Sun Valley serving Lamb Stew Meat in a Quesadilla, KB’s serving Lamb Tacos and Cheese Quesadillas, Serva Peruvian Cuisine serving Peruvian Lamb Stew, Sun Valley Culinary Institute serving Lamb Tostadas with Roasted Tomtoa Salsa and Mushrooms and Al’s Wood River Sustainability Center serving Lamb Gyros.
Diners will be able to purchase food directly from the local vendors this year.
The Sheep Photography Outing will not be offered this year because the number of participants got so big that it threatened the safety of the sheep and the people.
But participants can still count on the free Sheep Folklife Fair Saturday at Hailey’s Roberta McKercher Park, the Wool Fest workshops, Hikes and Histories presentations, Happy Trails Closing Party from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 9 in the Ketchum Town Square and, of course, the Big Sheep Parade, which will feature 1,500 sheep trotting down Ketchum’s Main Street at noon Sunday, Oct. 9.
For more detailed information, visit www.trailingofthesheep.org.