Shelley Spud Days will be here soon
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SHELLEY — Spud Days is almost here — here’s what to expect.
Shelley’s celebrates the potato harvest season every year with a parade, free baked potatoes, live entertainment and, of course, a tug of war over a pit of mashed potatoes.
Spud Days kicks off with a parade down State Street on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 10 a.m. And if you come early, you get to see the children’s parade at 9:45.
Throughout the parade, ping-pong balls will be tossed out into the crowd. Some of those ping-pong balls can be turned in at various booths for free prizes.
After the parade, the festivities continue at Dawn Lloyd Field with more than 100 food, craft and commercial vendors — the most Spud Days has had in at least three years — as well as games and bouncy houses.
“Over the years, we get bigger and bigger and bigger,” Spud Days Activities Director Karlene Higham said.
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Many of the food vendors coming to Spud Days were at the Eastern Idaho State Fair last week, like Mexican Crazy Corn, La Casita and Creamy Creations.
A couple of new food vendors this year are Blackhawk BBQ Pit and Mudslingers Coffee.
At noon, get a free baked potato with all the trimmings at the Southeast Park Shelter.
Also starting at noon is the Potato Picking Contest. Higham said Basic American Foods donated 8,000 pounds of potatoes for the contest. Once the contest is over, the potatoes are free to anyone who wants to take them home.
The last major event is the Spud Tug, the tug of war where the losers find themselves in a pit filled with mashed potatoes. It starts at 3 p.m.
“We dig a hole in one of the baseball fields, and then we mix potato flakes with good old water in a big cement truck, then pour it in there,” Higham said.
Anyone interested in signing up can do so before the Spud Tug starts. Teams must collectively weigh in at under 1,000 pounds.
Teams will be divided by age groups from 17 years old and younger and 18 years old and up.
Check out all the activities and entertainment as well as the events leading up to Spud Days at idahospudday.com.