History
In 1970 the Greater Issaquah Chamber of Commerce presented the first Issaquah Salmon Days Festival. The event grew out of the desire to replace the once popular Labor Day Festival, as well as a need to celebrate one of Issaquah’s greatest treasures, the annual return of the salmon.
In the beginning, attractions included the Kiwanis BBQ, hatchery tours, an art show, children's parade led by J.P. Patches, little league football games at Memorial Field, fire crew competitions and more. The Festival remained small for much of the seventies, driven by the Salmon Days Parade.
In 1980, the Salmon Days Festival and Parade underwent two major changes that have been credited with altering the course of the Festival: Salmon Days became a Seafair-sanctioned event and the very first Festival float was created. As a result, throughout much of the eighties, the parade and the Festival grew, and subsequently transformed itself from a small-town event to one of the Northwest's premier festivals. To aid in the growth process, merchandise was introduced, the first paid Festival Director was hired and large official sponsors came onboard. In 1990, the Festival introduced the Salmon Days Limited Edition Print, a signed and numbered run of 450 prints featuring original artwork. The Festival retired the collection at the end of 2003 and almost all the past prints have sold out.
Today, Salmon Days is still presented by the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce with the goal of providing a community celebration focused on honoring the return of the salmon. The Kiwanis are still in town baking salmon, just the amount (now more than a ton a year) has increased. There is still the Grande Parade that features more than 100 entries annually. Memorial Field, now the Field of Fun hosts a number of free games and activities for families to enjoy. Official sporting events have replaced the once popular fire crew competitions. And finally, what began as an art show has manifested itself into a marketplace of more than 300 artists all on-site selling their handcrafted pieces.
Read more about this topic: Issaquah Salmon Days
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