Huckleberry Fest draws thousands to Trout Creek

This, said band member Dana Scranton, was something “nobody would have expected to find in this part of the country.”

The statement was made after Scranton and the jazz band he was part of had just finished a two-hour gig on the main stage at the 2023 Huckleberry Festival this past weekend in Trout Creek.

“This is amazing,” he reiterated as the Flathead Valley-based band, Up the Creek, packed their instruments and cleared the stage to make way for the festival’s annual pie eating contest. “We are glad to be here and hope to be back again next year. It’s like you kinda want to keep this event a secret but you can’t do that.”

Thousands of locals and tourists descended upon the town Saturday and Sunday as part of a tribute to the legendary, pricey and extremely popular berries found in the mountains surrounding the area.

And the quest for the delicious purple berries was front and center throughout the day.

The event opened with a pancake breakfast at the Trout Creek Rural Fire Department headquarters on the east end of town. More than 1,000 people stood in line as RFD personal and supporters cooked and served mountains of pancakes, sausage, ham and eggs to the patient and hungry throng of festival goers.

“We were in line for about an hour-and-a-half,” said Judy Weiser, who along with three other young ladies was on a trip through Montana when they decided to stop in Trout Creek and check out the festival. “It was for a good cause and the breakfast was pretty good”.

After the breakfast shut down at 11 a.m. when the Festival parade began, RFD volunteers hurriedly began clean-up operations inside the fire hall. One lady said she had counted 1,065 paid breakfasts and that “I’m still counting”.

Funds raised by the breakfast are an important source of revenue for the rural fire department, which serves Trout Creek and the surrounding area.

The parade was a long, spirited affair featuring all manners of tribute, mostly tongue in cheek, to the beloved berries.

Dozens of floats and other huckleberry adorned vehicles traveled from the festival venue, onto Highway 200 and through the center of the town as law enforcement officials kept the highway closed for about 30 minutes.

From there festival goers flocked to Trout Creek Park where a multitude of food and crafts booths awaited. By noon the festival grounds were packed with folks looking for huckleberry ice cream and other desserts featuring the coveted berries. Craft vendors reported brisk business from those who attended the event on what was a clear blue sky day.

For six-year-old Cody Ramsdon, the grin on his face and ice cream around his mouth was testimony to the fun he was having.

“This is really good,” he said of the huckleberry ice cream cone he was rapidly consuming.

One of the booths featured members of the local American Legion club, including area resident Bill Beck, who was proud to provide a patriotic touch to the gathering.

“We want this to be a patriotic festival too,” Beck said, sitting in front of a large, wooden American flag made by local students and “decorated” with a wide variety of guns.

“These kinds of events are what America is all about,” Beck said. “We are really happy to be here.”

And while the throng enjoyed the wide variety of foods and drinks, many gathered under the parachute roof that provided shade for spectators at the main stage.

In addition to the jazz band’s afternoon stint on the stage, two young ladies drew loud applause, first for their rendition of the National Anthem, then for a series of songs they sang, backed up by the jazz band.

“It was fun to be up there,” said Madison Holmes, a five-year-old whose mom and grandmother are members of the band. “I wasn’t scared or nervous.”

Madison and her sister, Kodi Holmes, who are from the Kalispell area, wowed the crowd with a variety of tunes, including a huckleberry tribute song written and sung by Kodi.

Once the band had disassembled its gear and cleared the stage area, the hugely popular pie-eating contest got underway.

A total of 16 contestants, young and old, took part in the contest, much to the delight of the assembled audience. A trio of brothers visiting from Snohomish, Washington, displayed their hunger and pie-eating abilities during the second tier of young contestants.

The event was won by Kassidy Bringedahl, who scarfed down half an apple pie to win his age division round. Brothers Cohen and Kassen also participated in the event, with Cohen’s pie-stained face a big hit with the audience.

“That was really fun,” Cohen said as he cleaned up after gulping down most of his half of the pie. “I’m glad we got to come here.”

More live music, a horseshoe tournament and huckleberry dessert judging were the main part of Sunday’s events, which closed in the evening, capped by a performance by the Noxon High School Pep Band.