BY KAREN BOSSICK

Nationally renowned speed painter Annika Wooton will headline this year’s Starry Starry Night in the Wild West celebration for the Trailing of the Sheep Festival.

Wooton will create a custom work of art onstage to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The gala dinner, a fundraiser for the popular fall festival, will be held 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, at The Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum.

Wooton can transform blank canvases into bold art pieces in fewer than six minutes. She has performed on NBC, for an NCAA halftime show, and she went viral during a performance with the WNBA, captivating the audience with her blend of art and showmanship.

Those attending the event are invited to don their finest western wear to enjoy an evening of entertainment, drinks, silent and live auction items and, yes, a lamb dinner.

As always, there will be a mystery raffle that will likely offer a glamorous vacation somewhere in the world. And this year attendees will have the chance to customize their own hat at the Idaho Hat Bar.

Tickets are $150, available at https://trailingofthesheep.org/starry-starry-night. VIP tickets are $225 and include Sheriff’s VIP Swag and VIP seating.

This year’s festival, which celebrates the annual tradition of moving sheep from the high mountain summer pastures to winter grazing areas in the south, will be held Oct. 8-12. Tickets are already on sale for the National Qualifying Sheepdog Trials, Wool Fest classes and other events at https://trailingofthesheep.org/.

Many of the events, including the Sheep Folklife Fair and Big Sheep Parade, are free.