Pullmans 28th Lentil Festival offers wide range of attractions

Pullman’s 28th annual National Lentil Festival is booked for Friday and Saturday, with fun and entertainment slated for all ages.

Also, the festival happens just before the start of the fall semester at Washington State University and serves as a welcome to students who are new to Pullman or returning after the summer break.

The fun will start early Friday for those signed up to participate in the Tase T. Lentil miniature golf tournament at the Airway Hills Golf Center. Tee times begin at 9 a.m., with times varying throughout the day. The golf tournament will continue Saturday, also at 9 a.m., with varying tee times.

Sponsored by Emmanuel Baptist Church, the world’s largest bowl of lentil chili will be served in the Reaney Park and Spring Street parking lot Friday from 5 to 8 p.m.

Festival goers can enjoy free lentil chili samples, and the recipe is also online at the Lentil Festival website. The beer and wine garden will open at 5 p.m. Friday. It will be open from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday near the live entertainment main stage.

More than 100 vendors will also open their booths from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday night and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Featured vendors Friday will be the nonprofits. They will be located in Spring Street Park, just across from Lentil Marketplace.

Additionally, Pullman High School will be raising funds for a trip to New York by manning Coca Cola trailers in the Lentil Marketplace and Lentil Lane Food Court. Half of the proceeds from the beverage trailers will be donated to the high school.

The Lentil Land Kids’ Area will also be opened at 5 p.m. Friday night with an inflatable bounce house and Amazama Juggling School booked for entertainment.

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc ,. will provide hands-on activities, including a science tent which will have a power system coloring page puzzle and a green screen photo booth.

Saturday’s fun in the kids’ area will begin at noon with the Ronald McDonald show, followed by Charlie Brown the Juggler at 12:30 and the Lil’ Lentil royalty coronation at 1 p.m.

At 1:30, the Palouse Power all-star cheer will be on hand, and interactive music with Doug will follow at 2 p.m. The WSU Raptor Club will show up with birds of prey at 3 p.m., and Charlie Brown the Juggler will make a second appearance at 3:30 p.m. Story time will come after that at 4 p.m., and the raptor club will return at 4:30 to round out the day in the kids’ area.

Other Friday night activities include ZFun mix and trivia on the main stage at 5:15 p.m. and an “Ask the Experts” panel discussion on lentils, from growing to cooking to eating, at 6:30 p.m. by PNW Co-Op Speciality Foods in Reaney Park.

Entertainment booked for Friday night on the main stage includes Redwood Son at 6:45 p.m., Rust on the Rails at 7:45 p.m. and headliner Eclectic Approach at 9 p.m.

Saturday’s fun will start early for some at 6:30 a.m. with the beginning of the 150 kilometer Tour De Lentil bike ride, followed by the 100 kilometer at 7:15 a.m. and the 50 kilometer at 8 a.m. Registered riders can pick up race packets on Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. near the skate park on Spring Street. Riders who do not pick up packets Friday must arrive at least 45 minutes early Saturday for packet pick up. The ride will begin at the WSU Horticulture Gardens at the east entrance to the Lighty Student Services building. Those still interested in registering can do day-of registration there.

The Lentil Fest 5K Fun Run sponsored by Snap Fitness will also get an early start. Beginning in the Pufferbelly Depot parking lot, Snap Fitness trainers and instructors will be on hand ahead of the 7:30 a.m. start time for a warm up session in the parking lot. Pre-race packet pickup will be Friday from 5 p.m. at the festival, and late registration will be accepted until 8 p.m. that day at the 5K booth. Those who do not pick up their packets Friday night need to check in at the Pufferbelly Depot parking lot between 6:45 and 7:15 a.m. Saturday morning.

At 8 a.m., the Pullman Lion’s Club will begin serving its lentil pancake breakfast in the Cougar Plaza on the corner of Grand Avenue and Olsen Street. Prices will be $8 for those 12 and older, $4 for children 5-11 and free for children younger than five years.

The co-ed softball tournament sponsored by ProFormance Physical Therapy will be at the city play fields beginning at 9 a.m. The 3-on-3 hoop classic tournament also begins at 9 a.m. in Reaney Park. Both events will continue throughout the day.

At 10 a.m., the Walk of Fame ceremony will begin on Main Street at Sam Dial Jewelers, and the grand parade will follow at 11 a.m.

Starting at noon and going until 3 p.m., Feeding Children Everywhere and Decagon Devices, Inc., will be on hand in the Ag Corner sponsored by the Moscow Food Co-Op for a service project. Together with volunteers, the groups will package 25,000 healthy meals which will be distributed locally.

The noon hour will also see a live cooking demo by Jamie Collision at the gazebo stage in Reaney Park, with entertainment provided by Dylan Jakobsen on the main stage at the same time.

Another live cooking demo will follow at 1 p.m. with chef Debi Smissen showing festival goers how to prepare pedrosillano chickpeas with sumac and labneh cheese.

At 1:15, Old Southern Moonshine Revival will take the main stage, and at 2 p.m. chef Robin Leventhal will provide a cooking demo of a lentil dish at the gazebo stage. More entertainment will follow at 2:30 p.m. with Love and Theft taking the main stage.

At 3 p.m., the Legendary Lentil Cook-off will take place at the gazebo stage, and the first 100 festival goers who show up will be admitted to judge for the people’s choice award.

The top five entrants that will be judged will be Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew submitted Robin Seletsky of Oneonta, N.Y .; Chipotle Honey Lentil and Red Pepper Dip submitted by Fiona Green of Keller, Texas; Lentil Crusted Fried Chicken Breast with Spicy Lentil Sauté submitted by Christopher Morrill of El Paso, Texas; Lentil and Bacon Deviled Eggs by Suzanna Gerrety of Jacksonville, Fla., and Oma’s Luscious Lentil Bake by Deanna Gilmore of Moscow.

First place winner will receive $2,000, second place will receive $1,000 and third place will receive $500. The People’s Choice winner also receives $100.

A panel of local celebrity judges will award first, second and third place. That panel includes Jessie Hunter, USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council Director of Domestic Marketing; Mkristo Bruce, former WSU and NFL football player; Marissa Rudley, U of I campus dietitian and 2015 second place and People’s Choice award winner; Laurel Catena, pastry chef at Roost Coffee & Market and Foundry Kitchen & Cocktails, and Josh Babcock, Moscow-Pullman Daily News reporter.

The 122 recipes submitted for the contest will be available to purchase in a recipe book at the festival.

The final entertainment will begin at 3:45 with Bull Country playing a mix before the festival closes at 5 p.m.