Penn Cove Water Festival pulls into town May 10

Come next weekend, the waters of Penn Cove will be populated with the canoes of the Coast Salish people as they race against each another in an annual celebration of indigenous culture.

The Penn Cove Water Festival will make a splash Saturday, May 10 in downtown Coupeville. Races run from noon to about 5 p.m.

“The weather is usually much better than for Musselfest,” Gary Piazzon, the festival’s president, said with a laugh.

A new event this year, Beaver Tales Coffee in Coupeville is hosting a “story slam” fundraiser 7-9 p.m. this Saturday, May 3. Registration at the door costs $20; participants will have five minutes to tell the best story, and the winner receives a cash prize. Storyteller Lou LaBombard, a retired Skagit Valley College professor and a Seneca-Mohawk of the Iroquois Confederacy, will be one of the judges.

LaBombard will also be present to kick off the Water Festival at an event 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 9 at the Pacific Rim Institute. He will tell Native American myths and legends around the bonfire.

“And this year we’re really excited that the Lummi Blackhawk Singers are going to be a part of the Water Festival cultural performers,” Piazzon said.

Food vendors include Samish Fry Bread and Salmon, Pop-Up Oyster Bar and Cosmic Ice Cream Bars, among others.

This year’s festival is dedicated to the memory of the late Kay Parsons, who Piazzon said used her skills as a graphic artist to enhance the festival’s marketing and merchandise.

For the second year in a row, the races will be announced by Tony Cladusbid of the Swinomish Tribe, co-owner of Beaver Tales Coffee, as well as Michael Vendiola, communications manager for the Swinomish Tribe. Cladusbid and his wife, Michelle, are the owners of Beaver Tales Coffee on the Coupeville Wharf. Rick Castellano will be this year’s MC.

The Water Festival was once a much larger event in the 1930s, spanning several days of races. Then, it took an extended hiatus when World War II began. Piazzon said Susan Berta of the Orca Network was the “instigating force” behind revitalization efforts in the 1990s.

In 1992, Berta was the program coordinator for the Island County WSU Extension Beach Waters, which are known today as Sound Water Stewards. She drew inspiration from her mother, who always had an interest in native art and history and had started a cultural festival in her hometown of Rock Springs, Wyoming.

“That was all just right up my alley,” Berta said.

She set out to attend a canoe race meeting that was happening in Canada, traveling up to Vancouver Island.

“At first it was like, what are these white people doing at our canoe meeting?” Berta recalled. “But the minute people heard we were from Coupeville and we wanted to do the races again, we were just honored guests.”

And so it was that Coupeville was added to the racing circuit, the only venue on non-tribal land to be included.

“I feel really honored that we’ve been able to do this so long and that the tribes still come,” Berta said.

Over the decades she has seen generations of racers compete, watching little girls grow up to become mothers of little girls themselves. The festival has stayed small, which allows people to talk with vendors, musicians and canoe pullers.

“Especially now, in the times we’re in, it’s more important than ever to share cultures,” Berta said. “And there’s so few opportunities for people to learn about our history and the indigenous cultures of the Salish Sea.”

For more information about the event, visit penncovewaterfestival.org.