Wahluke High School full for 2023 Mattawa Winter Festival

MATTAWA – Walking in the door of Wahluke High School Dec. 14 was made difficult by the mass of people crowding the entry to the commons. Hundreds, if not thousands, of community members from the Mattawa area made their way to the school that evening for the annual Mattawa Winter Festival.

Mattawa City Clerk Anabel Martinez said there were about the same number of attendees as previous years. 

“It went very well,” she said. “It was very well attended.”

This year’s celebration featured numerous activities, including crafts, dancing, raffles, vendors selling games and accessories and piñatas. 

On the stage in the center of the commons, local youth dancers wore dresses and hats with lights sewn on and danced in formation on the stage before stepping down and making their way through the audience. 

Martinez said about 200 toys were given away in the raffle. Attendees were given punch cards to visit all the different informational booths and merchandise vendors throughout the commons to be entered in the raffles. 

One of those attendees was Mattawa resident Jazmin Townsend, who came to the festival with her family.

“My kids go to the elementary school, well, my youngest goes to the preschool and she was like, ‘We have this festival,’ and we always try to come out to all the events, as much as we can,” Townsend said. “We haven't lived here very long. This is probably our second year here, well, we're like two and a half years in now…We don't speak a lot of Spanish and stuff so it's a little bit more difficult, but this year we've been trying to come to as much as we can and participate as much as we can.”

Townsend said her family moved to Mattawa from Alabama, which she said are very different from each other.

“But it's more quiet,” she said. “It's more peaceful going from a big city to a small one. You don't worry about a lot here, so it's a lot better.”

Townsend spoke about what she liked about the event.

“I think I just enjoy the fact that there are a lot of different vendors here, and they have a lot of different options for everything,” Townsend said. “I know usually, like sometimes with the smaller events, they have the same people that participate in things, so I do like to see when they have a lot (of) other people there.”

In addition to the vendors, food stations sold various meals and snacks for different local organizations as costumed characters mingled with the crowd.

“I just enjoy everything, you know,” Townsend said. “I think it's really nice to see all the teachers, my kids’ teachers and stuff, and just how friendly everybody is.”

Mattawa resident Alma Caro, who said she has lived in Mattawa all her life, had a similar story on what brought her to the festival. 

“My son loves everything that goes on around the school, so he was really excited,” Caro said. “He was like, ‘Mom, don't forget, don't forget,’ so I had to leave work early so I could bring him in.”

Caro said the kids at the event loved the activities, and that the event is more for them than the adults. Nonetheless, she said she also enjoys the event and attended previous years’ festivals.

“I like everything. The community is here, and then I get to see people that I haven't seen in a while, so I like this,” she said. “I wish we had more events like this.”

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.

    Community members decorate cookies with members of Grant County Fire District 8 during the Dec. 14 Mattawa Winter Festival.
  

    Local youth dancers make their way down the steps from the Wahluke High School commons stage to walk through the audience.
  

    The Grinch high-fives a youth dancer during the 2023 Mattawa Winter Festival held at Wahluke High School Dec. 14.
  

    Mattawa City Council member Fabiola Hernandez and Mayor Maria Celaya announce raffle winners.