It’s that time of summer when a dark purple berry high in Vitamin C swells plump on Flathead hills. The sweet miniature fruit inspires lip-smacking pies and ice cream. Even daiquiris. It’s also is the inspiration behind the annual Whitefish Huckleberry Days—the town’s biggest summer weekend event.
The three-day festival–August 10-12–crowds 125 artists into the Credit Union Park across from the Railway Depot. With music, dance, and karate demonstrations, the festival bounces with family activities—and street vendors provide the meals. While most of the events take place clustered in downtown Whitefish around the park, a few are scheduled at Mountain Mall, City Beach, and surrounding locales.
Kids look forward to the thrill of face painting, a half-block-long jumping tent, a bounce house, and a dunking booth. They can even enter the annual Hidden Huckleberry Contest at City Beach on Friday at 1 p.m. in Picnic Pavilion # 1 to slurp a whip cream-filled pie plate in search of a single purple delight at the bottom.
Evening entertainment adds to the festivities. Flathead Concert Band performs Friday evening in the park, followed by The Marshall Tucker Band on Saturday night at Whitefish Mountain Resort, and the popular musical “I Love You, Your Perfect, Now Change” plays at the O’Shaughnessy Center Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings.
And where do you get that huckleberry ice cream? Not on Huckleberry Hill, but at Mountain Mall on Saturday.