The 21st annual Woodlands and Watersheds Festival is Friday, June 27, at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds in Enterprise. (Wallowa Resources/Contributed Photo)

ENTERPRISE — A festival that celebrates community and the Wallowa County landscape returns on Friday, June 27.

The 21st annual Woodlands and Watersheds Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds in Enterprise.

The festival is free and celebrates Wallowa County.

“It’s a celebration of this location, and definitely geared toward families and kids,” said Asch Humphrey, events and volunteer coordinator for Wallowa Resources, which started this yearly event in 2004.

In 2017, Wallowa Resources joined with Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center, and the festival was renamed Woodlands & Watersheds. The Nez Perce Tribe and Wallowa Valley Music Alliance joined as official partners in 2023.

The four partners, Humphrey said, “welcome agencies and organizations to build awareness about Wallowa County culture and history, local community health resources, mountains and rivers, and forests and grasslands.”

Organizers expect up to 700 attendees.

“It’s well established,” she said.

More than 40 exhibitors are signed up and include live blacksmith demonstrations, relay races, competitive axe throwing and fishing with the Nez Perce Tribe-Fisheries exhibit.

Music, food

The festival also features music by Calico Bones, Jezebel’s Mother and the Local Yokels, as well as David Casteal, who will play West African drum and invite kids and parents to the stage to play the drums — no experience necessary.

“It’s going to be really interactive,” Humphrey said.

The Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center, in partnership with the Flora School Education Center, will provide a fundraiser lunch of Dutch-oven cooked pork butt or chicken along with several salads.

Kids will be treated to free hot dogs, and ice cream will be available for purchase from Simple Cone.