STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Siumni Polish Highlander Folk Ensemble will be back for the Trailing of the Sheep Festival this year after a few years absence.

And back with them are their unique bagpipes so different from the Scottish, their colorful folk dances and their large lovable Polish Tatra Shepherd dogs.

The Trailing of the Sheep Festival may have originated in the Wood River Valley’s rich history of sheep, which at one time was the valley’s main industry and the second largest in the world. But it has brought the world to our door over the years, with shepherds from the Himalaya and weavers from Navajo land.

The award winning Siumni Polish Highlander dancers from Chicago sport some beautiful handmade folk dresses.

The 28^th Trailing of the Sheep Festival officially got underway Tuesday night with a Farm to Table Dinner. And the next few days will feature a cheese making class among other cooking classes and a class on making Animal Sculptures from wool among other wool craft classes.

It will bring hundreds of people to town from around the world, thanks to such accolades as one of the Top Ten Fall Festivals in the World by msn.com travel, Top 7 US Fall Festivals by National Geographic,  Top Ten Fall Festivals by USA Today and One of the Greatest Cultural Events in the West by Northwest Travl.,

The Trailing of the Sheep Festival headquarters opens today at 10 a.m. at The Argyros in Ketchum. Here are some of the other highlights:

FRIDAY, Oct. 4

You never know what you’re going to find at the Sheep Folklife Fair.

• 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CHAMPIONSHIP SHEEPDOG TRIALS at 2400 Buttercup Road north of Hailey. The National Point Qualifying Sheepdog Trials will feature 80 border collies and their handlers from Idaho, Utah, Montana, California, Oregon, Washington and Canada trying to corral sheep from the Denis and Laurie Kowitz ranch in Declo. The couple started with 10 head in the 1990s and now run 4,500 head of ewes in the Hailey and Ketchum area.

  Onsite are 30 vendors hawking even merchandise for dog lovers, as well as Basque food from the Gooding Basque Association. Bring lawn chairs as there is no seating provided. Leashed dogs are permitted.

  Joining the trials this year is Fiona McMillon, a renowned sheepdog trials judge based in Scotland who has been involved with the International Sheep Dog Society and is set to become the organization’s first female President in November 2024.

  Sheep shearing demos will be offered every half-hour during Saturday’s Sheep Folklife Fair in Hailey’s Roberta McKercher Park.

  Workers were paving Buttercup Road Tuesday in hopes of having it done by the time of the Sheepdog Trials.

  Cost is $10 for bikers and pedestrians on Friday and Saturday and $5 on Sunday. Vehicles with single occupancy are $10; two-plus passengers, $20. Three-day passes are available for $25 and $45 respectively. If you wish to purchase passes online, go to https://trailingofthesheep.org/sheepdogs/dogs/?blm_aid=21638

  Sheepdogs will be put to the test Friday through Sunday in the fields along Buttercup Road.

• Noon-5 p.m. J.McLaughlin dress shop at 520 E. 4^th t., in Ketchum is having a SIP & SHOP benefitting Unega Mountain Dog Rescue in conjunction with the Festival. Fifteen percent of sales from noon to 4 p.m. will benefit the dog rescue, which takes in lost Pyrenees and Akbash sheep dogs. The rescue’s founder Tiffany Larson will be on hand with some of the Unega gentle giants and there will be treats for guests and take-home goodie bags for pups.
• 2:30-4 p.m. Free SHEEP RANCHING Q&A WITH IDAHO RANCHERS & FRIENDS will take place at Ketchum’s Community Library, 415 Spruce Ave. The afternoon will include sheep tales from sheep ranchers Henry Etcheverry, Mike Guerry, Darby Northcott and Cindy Siddoway. It will be livestreamed at https://vimeo.com/event/4571873.
• 4:30-5:30 p.m. FOR THE LOVE OF LAMB will offer the best in American Lamb baa-ites served up from some of the top restaurants in the Wood River Valley. Among the tastes: Japanese Lamb Curry and Middle Eastern Spiced Meatball with a Coconut Lime and Mint Cream. Passports cost $25, assuring holders of at least five small plates. Go to https://trailingofthesheep.org/cuisine/for-the-love-of-lamb/?blm_aid=21638.
• 7 p.m. SHEEP TALES GATHERING at The Argyros This year’s storytelling evening’s conversation and panel discussion will focus on the importance of both private and public lands, the critical role of agriculture in conservation and obstacles that landowners face in stewarding these landscapes.

  Dr. Jared Talley, Boise State University Professor in Environmental Science and Governance, will moderate the evening, with Panelists: Lesli Allison, Founding Member and Chief Executive, Western Landowners Alliance; Hailey Wilmer, Research Rangeland Management Specialist at the USDA-ARS Range Sheep Production Efficiency Research Unit; and Sara Berman, Owner & Operator, Squash Blossom Farm, Bellevue, Idaho.

  Tickets are available online at https://trailingofthesheep.org/culture/sheeptales-gathering  

   SATURDAY, Oct. 5

• 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CHAMPIONSHIP SHEEPDOG TRIALS continue on Buttercup Road.
• 9:30-10:30 a.m. The free SHEEP READS will feature Festival Co-Founder Diane Peavey examining Ivan Doig’s “This House of Sky—Landscapes of a Western Mind.” It will be hosted at Town Center West, 116 S. River St. in Hailey.
• 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The free SHEEP FOLKLIFE FAIR at Roberta McKercher will feature Kids’ Fluff activities, sheep shearing demonstrations, music and dance from Basques, Peruvians, Polish Highlanders and the Boise Highlanders Scottish band.

  There also will be a LAMB FEST LUNCH featuring a variety of lamb nibbles from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year’s menu features Al’s Wood River Sustainability Center, IdaPoe BBQ’s Smoked Leg of Lamb , La Parrilla’s Lamb Street Tacos, Ramen Cowboy’s Lamb Yakisoba, Salted Sprigs Lamb Kofta Kebab and Vegan Kebab and Chef on the Run’s Argentinian-Style Braised Lamb and Vegetables in Rosemary Focaccia with Chimichurri.

  There will be sheep wagons on display, photo ops with Curly and Lambert from Hailey’s Sky Ranch Miniature Horse & Donkey Rescue and more than 80 vendors hawking wool items, sheep cheese and more.

• 6 p.m. CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR JOHN THOMAS PEAVEY at The Argyros in Ketchum. This gathering is free and open to the public. It will feature stories about Peavey, the Flat Top Sheep Rancher who co-founded the Trailing of the Sheep Festival.

  SUNDAY, Oct. 6

• 9 a.m.-2 p.m. CHAMPIONSHIP SHEEPDOG TRIALS conclude on Buttercup Road.
• 9:30-11 a.m. HISTORY OF SHEEPHERDING IN THE WOOD RIVER VALLEY will be held at the Limelight Hotel. Get your questions about the Wood River Valley’s sheep history answered by fourth-generation rancher Tom Peavey of the Flat Top Sheep Company, third-generation Sheep Manager of the Flat Top Sheep Company Dennis Burks and Jerry Seiffert, president of the Trailing of the Sheep Festival board.
• 10 a.m.-3 p.m. HAPPY TRAILS CLOSING PARTY will take place in Ketchum Town Square. It will feature cowboy/folk music from 10 a.m. to noon from Cindy and Gary Braun, who also play covers of artists like Nat King Cole, Patsy Cline, The Beatles and Crystale Gayle. The Kim Stocking Band will follow from 1 to 3 p.m. with country and old-time rock and roll featuring the harmonies of Kim and Ember Stocking, along with Mike Saul and Chip Booth.

There also will be wool vendors, strudel makers and other food vendors.

Noon--THE BIG SHEEP PARADE will commence on Ketchum’s newly paved Main Street