Under bright, sunny skies, the North Country Fair, an Arcata tradition created by the Same Old People organizers in 1974, featured the All Species Parade on Saturday and the Samba Parade with Samba da Alegria and Samba do Mar on Sunday. This year’s party featured 175 art and craft vendors, interactive toys and playgrounds for […]
Mark Larson
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Ladies Throw Their Hats In
Participants in the 12th annual Ladies Hat Day at the Races event on Saturday offered some glamour and wild creativity in front of the recently repaired (from earthquake damage) horse-track grandstands at the 128th annual Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale. This year’s fair theme was “Ribbons, Rides & Racing,” with six days of horse racing […]
Posted inNews
Sea Lion Dies in Klopp Lake, Ending Unusual Excursion
My wife and I enjoy walking the trails at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, looking at and photographing the usual wildlife, but last Sunday, Aug. 25, around 10 a.m. at low tide, we saw something unusual. It appeared to be a stranded dead adult California sea lion lying covered in mud on the tidal […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Klamath Salmon Festival Turns 60, Celebrates Elders
Driving north in the rain from Arcata early Saturday morning, the prospects for the 60th annual Klamath Salmon Festival didn’t look good. But by the 9:30 a.m. start of the parade, the rain had stopped, the sun came out from behind the clouds and this year’s festival celebrating tribal elders (because the event was turning […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Obon Drums and Dancing
After Japanese shakuhachi flute music by Rick Kruse, the Rev. Rinban Gerald Sakamoto, minister for the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, returned this year to bless the opening of the third annual Humboldt Obon Festival on Sunday afternoon. The program shared traditions of Obon, a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one’s ancestors coming to earth […]
Posted inNews
Scenes from the Junior Rodeo
Nearly 200 boys and girls signed up for a chance to compete in seven age divisions for saddles, lots of buckles and cash awards at the Fortuna Junior Rodeo at the rodeo grounds in Rohner Park earlier this month. When I asked rodeo participants “What event or events are you participating in?” the most common […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Humboldt Folklife Draws a Crowd
The Humboldt Folklife Festival delivered its usual week-long supply of Humboldt County musicians and bands to Blue Lake this past Sunday through Saturday, July 14 through July 20. The only problem? How to pick and choose what to attend, given the festival program was competing with what seemed like an unusually packed social calendar countywide. […]