2022 Bear Creek Salmon Festival at North Mountain Park
The Bear Creek Salmon Festival Unites Old Friends and New Partners
The Bear Creek Salmon Festival returns to North Mountain Park on Saturday, October 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission (APRC) hosted the first Bear Creek Festival in 2004. From the outset, this event was intended to be a celebration of our watershed community, and that community has showed up year after year, making the Festival a beloved Rogue Valley tradition.
This year, the tradition returns, reuniting old friends and showcasing great new participants!
Old Friends:
The Bear Creek Salmon Festival always offers a great musical line up, and this year, we have invited one of our favorite local teachers to join us in a different capacity. Bekkah McAlvage, elementary school teacher, musician and long-time friend of the Nature Center will be performing with her country-folk group, Bekkah and the Dusty Rubies. Bekkah and the Dusty Rubies
Bekkah has been bringing her first-grade class to North Mountain Park for the last seven years, and she says: "North Mountain Park has provided my students with rich and invaluable place-based, hands-on learning experiences through the years… I am so happy that I get to participate in the Salmon Festival again this year. It means a lot to me to see these invaluable learning events return and bring people together again!"
It wouldn’t be the Bear Creek Salmon Festival without the help of Tom Smith, a respected Cherokee Elder, Cultural Interpreter and Traditional Craft Artisan. Tom always takes charge of the salmon cooking, and this year, he’s happy to be back and mentoring his grandson in traditional cooking methods.
Tom taught visitors how to twist cordage at the very first Festival in 2004, and here he is in 2019 making that salmon we’ve grown to love so much.
Cherokee Elder, Tom Smith New Friends:
In addition to community members who have been part of the Nature Center Family for years, we are also inviting great new partners and performers to this year’s event.
Three great musicians are joining the Salmon festival for the first time. The day will open with the smooth vocals of performer Greta Gardiner, and visitors will end the day dancing and grooving with the Frankie Hernandez Band. In between sets at the pavilion, visitors can head down to the salmon cooking area to listen to the graceful guitar and flute of Tommy Graven. The park will be filled with music from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Our new food vendor will be Fatso’s Cheketos, serving delicious keto-friendly food, gluten-free and vegetarian options. They will also have a kid-friendly plate and something cold and refreshing to drink.
Gather with friends old and new, for a day of learning, music, crafts and culture. Local experts will be on hand with outdoor activities for all ages. Together, we will honor salmon, local watersheds and all ways we are intertwined. (Please help us make this a Zero Waste event by bringing a reusable water bottle or cup.)
Admission is free!
Join us at North Mountain Park, 620 N Mountain Avenue in Ashland. To learn more, visit BearCreekSalmonFestival.net.
