Soap Lake Chamber adds new event in 2026
SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Chamber of Commerce released their event schedule for 2026, including a new event this year: the Lantern Festival. Chamber President Karen Woodhouse said this addition gives the community something to do year-round. “I’ve been wanting to do something in the winter for the last three years, and this year I finally talked to the (Soap Lake Natural Spa & Resort) and got them on board,” said Woodhouse. The Lantern Festival will be held the evening of Feb. 21 and is loosely inspired by Chinese New Year celebrations. She said the event will feature decorated paper lanterns with LED lights and a dragon prop that will be taken on a small parade through the area.
'Cafe Murder'
Dinner theater comedy draws audience into mystery
MOSES LAKE — The audience plays detective at “Cafe Murder,” taking the stage Friday and Saturday in Moses Lake. “Cafe Murder,” a collaboration between Columbia Basin Allied Arts and Sunshine Performing Arts, is a dinner theater production in which guests enjoy a meal and a mystery play and then solve the mystery themselves over dessert. “Dinner theater is basically the great American pastime for the arts,” CBAA Executive Director Shawn Cardwell wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “It’s being offered in towns all around us, but not here in Grant County, so we thought, ‘Let’s do it!’”
BASIN EVENTS: Jan. 23-31, 2026
COLUMBIA BASIN — The weather might be chilly and gray, but there are still things to do to break up the winter doldrums. Here are a few ideas for this week.
Ephrata High tackles ‘Grease’ in aging PAC
EPHRATA — As students at Ephrata High School prepare to debut the musical “Grease,” they’re also grappling with the limits of a Performing Arts Center which they say is increasingly difficult to work in. While excitement builds around the school’s first musical in years, the production is in a facility students say is plagued by flickering lights, sound failures, creaking floorboards and a cramped backstage.
Shakespeare goes bonkers
Masquers production fits all of his plays into one comedy
SOAP LAKE — Thirty-seven plays. That’s how many William Shakespeare wrote in his career. And every one of those will be on the Masquers stage next week. “We take all of Shakespeare’s plays – tragedies, comedies, histories – and mash them all into a little under two hours,” said Adam Zaleski, who’s directing “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again],” opening Feb. 13. “It’s a real blast. It’s a lot of fast acting.”
BASIN EVENTS: Feb. 13-21
COLUMBIA BASIN — Winter’s not over yet, but you can almost see spring from here. Here are a few ways to get out and about this week in the Basin.
‘Grease’ lights up Ephrata High stage
EHS students put on the school's first musical in years
EPHRATA — The halls of Rydell High came roaring to life Thursday night as Ephrata High School kicked off opening night of “Grease: School Version” at the Ephrata High Performing Arts Center, a show bursting with energy, laughter and the kind of school‑spirit that would make even Danny Zuko crack a smile.
BASIN EVENTS: Feb. 20-28, 2026
COLUMBIA BASIN — We’re rounding out February in the Basin with lots of fun things to do. Here are a few.
‘Footloose’: QHS musical combines high energy with strong emotion
QUINCY — It’s time to kick off those Sunday shoes and pump up the adrenaline. Quincy High School’s production of “Footloose” opens Friday at the QHS Performing Arts Center. “The kids are doing an awesome job keeping that energy and pace up,” Director Haliey Weber said. “There's a lot of dancing … It's very high-energy, very high-paced.”
BASIN EVENTS: March 2026
COLUMBIA BASIN — Spring is in sight and there’s lots to do this month in the Basin. Here are a few suggestions.
