Oprah’s Website Honors Idaho Festival as One of the Best Fall Festivals in America
Oprah is no stranger to the Gem State. She’s a regular attendee at the Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley.
The conference, nicknamed the “Summer Camp for Billionaires” is hosted by a boutique investment bank that has been hosting the annual conference in the resort town since the early 80s. This year’s event attracted the likes of Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and former Disney CEO, Bob Iger.
While Oprah didn’t attend in 2022, she clearly enjoyed her other visits to the Wood River Valley. We say that because the area appears on a list of the “22 Best Fall Festivals in America,” published on the TV mogul’s lifestyle website “Oprah Daily” and the Idaho festival the team chose is unlike anything else on the list!
Scrolling through the list, you’ll quickly realize that most of the festivals on the list place a heavy emphasis on pumpkins, apples or some sort of fair food. Idaho’s represented by a fall festival that’s a radical departure from those festivals! Oprah Daily picked the annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival in the Sun Valley/Ketchum/Hailey area. It appears at #15 on the list.
The main draw of the festival is watching hundred of sheep relocate to their winter pasture. That journey takes them right down Main Street through Ketchum! During the festival, there are other sheep-themed events happening in the region like lamb cruises tastings at restaurants, classes teaching people to make everything from scarves to small stuffed animals from wool and sheepdog trials. It also celebrates the history of Idaho’s sheep ranching families, so you can count on dancing and other demonstrations representing Base, Scottish and Peruvian heritage.
They'll kick off this year's event with a Farm to Table Dinner prepared with American lamb and local produce on Tuesday, October 4. The festival runs through Sunday, October 9. That's when you can see the main event -The Big Sheep Parade! It'll take place on Sunday during the festival at 12 p.m.! If you're attending, please keep your dogs at home for the safety of the sheep and spectators.
The Trailing of the Sheep Festival hasn’t just impressed Oprah’s team. The event has found itself on other lists like the U.S. News and World Report’s “24 Top Fall & Harvest Festivals in the U.S.,” the Huffington Post’s list of “America’s Weirdest Fall Festivals,” and HGTV’s “21 Great Fall Festivals” list.
Want to make a trip out of it this year? Here are a few restaurants to keep in mind during your visit!
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