First-ever Pocatello Potato Festival to take place this weekend
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POCATELLO – A festival celebrating Idaho’s most famous and primary crop will take place for the first time ever this weekend.
Two museums located on the same campus, the Museum of Clean and My World Discovery Museum, will be holding a brand new event they’ve created called the Pocatello Potato Festival on Saturday.
“The hope is really people come and they want to stay the whole night. This isn’t just a come in for 30 minutes and do everything and leave. … People (won’t be) ready for the fun to be over,” said Melody Daniels, executive director of My World Discovery Museum.
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The idea for the festival started at a much smaller scale, with Daniels wanting to hold a potato derby. Similar to a pinewood derby, a potato derby is an event where competitors build cars out of potatoes and race them against each other.
“I’ve been wanting to do a potato derby for a long time with the museum, and we really didn’t have the space or the resources to make that happen at the time,” Daniels explained. “and so I brought that up with … our events team, and they took it to the next level, which is what they’re so good at doing.”
Samantha Stoddard, executive director of the Museum of Clean, said the objectives of the two museums holding events like this are to provide opportunities for the community to gather, and for kids to have hands-on learning experiences. These aligned with Simplot’s values, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year and is the event’s main sponsor.
“(The partnership) was kind of a perfect match. (Simplot is) putting a lot of emphasis on community, but also children and education, so it just really works with both of our organizations,” Stoddard said.
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The festival will start at 4 p.m. and last until around 8 p.m. in front of the Museum of Clean and My World Discovery at 711 South 2nd Ave. As people enter the festival, they’ll hear the sounds of local musicians performing, see people participating in a variety of free activities and will have eight different options of food trucks to visit.
The opening act for the evening will be Michael Paul, a local singer, starting at 5 p.m. Steelhead Redd, a band that claims the title of “Pocatello’s longest running band,” on its website, will then headline and perform throughout the evening.
Those looking to grab a bite to eat will have access to free french fries provided by Simplot, and food trucks serving sweet treats like scones, donuts and Dippin Dots, and savory meals like street-style tacos, ramen or burgers.
People looking to try an adult beverage will also have the option of trying a specially-brewed potato beer from Jim Dandy Brewing.
The originally envisioned potato derby will be joined by even more free family-friendly activities, including a potato-themed scavenger hunt.
For both Daniels and Stoddard, having the Pocatello Potato Festival reach everyone from families to college students was important.
“We want to make sure that we’re reaching everyone, so that everybody can come and have a great, great time,” Stoddard said.
