Sun in the Basin

EPHRATA — Live music, the Wenatchee Youth Circus, an early-morning run and the annual parade are among the attractions at the annual Sage-N-Sun Festival tonight and Saturday.

“I just think we need to get out there and start living again. And what a great way to do it, with a parade and a festival,” she said.

Most of the action will be on the lawn at the Grant County Courthouse, 35 C St. NW, including the live music beginning at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Hometown Hooligans, a classic rock band from Coulee City, will lead off. More activities are scheduled for 2022 as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes. Rita Witte, Ephrata Chamber of Commerce director, said it’s a good time to celebrate.

“(Hometown Hooligans are) really great,” Witte said.

The Basin Boys out of Moses Lake follow the Hooligans at 9 p.m. According to their social media, the Basin Boys play a lot of jazz along with some classic rock.

A beer garden will be open from 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and noon to midnight Saturday. Craft and food vendors set up on the courthouse lawn from 3 to 10 p.m. Friday and noon to 10 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday starts with the Sage-N-Sun Fun Run, sponsored by the Ephrata Lions Club. Race day registration opens at 6:30 a.m. at Ephrata Middle School, 384 A St. SE, and the race starts at 8 a.m., according to information from the Lions Club.

Runners and walkers have their choice of a two-mile or a five-mile course. The five-mile course takes runners out to the Port of Ephrata and back.

Lineup for the annual parade starts at 9 a.m., with judging at 10 a.m. and the parade starting at 11 a.m. The route takes parade entries down Basin Street, and Witte said Thursday that it looks like it’s going to be a big parade.

“I think we’re up to about 50 entries,” she said during a Thursday interview.

The Wenatchee Youth Circus will perform three times during the afternoon, at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Circus performers will concentrate on the WYC ground show, which according to the circus website includes juggling, acrobats and circus clowns.

Live music starts at 5 p.m. with the band Bourbon and Bellows. The band mixes accordion, bass, violin, guitar and vocals in an original twist on folk music, according to their website.

Kosta La Vista takes the stage at 7 p.m. The Spokane-based band plays classic rock - the hard-driving kind, according to their social media - and the blues, from Stevie Ray Vaughn to Curtis Salgado to ZZ Top.

Creedenced, a tribute band featuring the music of 1970s rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival, finishes out the evening at 9 p.m. The California-based band’s social media says they play the music of CCR and its co-founder John Fogarty.

Are you going to be there? Email your photos of the event to us at editor@columbiabasinherald.com for consideration for publication in our Lifestyle section next week.