The annual Idaho Spud Day celebration is set to take place in Shelley this weekend.
It’s been nearly 100 years since the first Spud Day took place in 1927. The goal of the celebration is to give the community a chance to gather together as friends and family, raise funds for youth in the area, and of course, enjoy potatoes.
Ross Foster is the Chairman of the Idaho Spud Day celebration and has been a volunteer since 2015. He says it was a natural celebration for the community.
“They just wanted to celebrate the harvest,” Foster said. “Shelley was a big hub in the day for the potato harvest and so everybody would get together and celebrate it and it was different activities.”
The event is such a big deal that around 20,000 people gather for the parade alone, and around 5,000 free baked potatoes are given out during the day.
“The nice thing is that it’s all done locally,” Foster said. “All the potatoes are given locally and then they’re all baked at the schools, so they’re all baked locally. All of this is a local event.”
Spud Day is run by the Shelley Kiwanis Club, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for youth and the community.
There are several events for people to enjoy, such as potato picking, sack races for kids and the spud tug, which is a tug-of-war over a giant pit of none other than mashed potatoes.
With over 150 booths featuring food and activities, Foster says there are plenty of reasons for people to go.
“If you want to attend a celebration that is all about community—local community—then this is where you would go,” Foster said. “This is all community oriented. Any money that is donated or collected stays in the community. Everything is about the community.”
Spud Day kicks off with the parade at 10 a.m. and events in the park until 4 p.m. A brand new rodeo, held at North Bingham County Park, will start at 6 p.m.
For more information, go to www.idahospudday.com or search for Idaho Annual Spud Day on Facebook.