Woodlands & Watersheds Festival in Enterprise returns for its 21st year
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, June 20th, 2025 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
ENTERPRISE – (Release from Wallowa Resources) On Friday, June 27 the 21st annual Woodlands & Watersheds Festival will be held at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds in Enterprise from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The festival is a free, family-friendly celebration of Wallowa County’s natural and cultural resources with over three dozen local and regional exhibitors in attendance.
Each year the participating organizations provide an exhibitor booth and educational activity to share with festival-goers. Previous exhibitors have included Building Healthy Families, Fishtrap, Flora School Education Center (FSEC), Nez Perce Tribe – Fisheries, Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, and Wallowa County Search and Rescue.
The festival also features a full day of live music, including performances by Calico Bones, Jezebel’s Mother and the Local Yokels. Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center—in partnership with FSEC—will be providing a fundraiser lunch of Dutch-oven cooked pork butt or chicken quarter entree along with American picnic potato salad, Greek, and green salads as sides.
The Woodlands & Watersheds Festival continues to evolve to provide the community with a much-loved, engaging experience celebrating place. The Wallowa Resources (WR) Watersheds Festival began in 2004 on a rainy Friday in June. Since 2017, WR combined efforts with Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center (MHIC) that had, at that time, organized the Maxville Gathering for 11 consecutive years. The festival was newly named Woodlands & Watersheds to encompass both organizations. In 2023 the Nez Perce Tribe and Wallowa Valley Music Alliance joined as official partners to the event and the collaboration has helped to continue improving the day of fun and learning for both community members and visitors to the county.
The four partners welcome agencies and organizations to build awareness about Wallowa County culture and history, local community health resources, mountains and rivers, and forests and grasslands. This year the festival anticipates up to 700 attendees and will host over 40 exhibitors, including live blacksmith demonstrations, relay races, competitive axe throwing, and live fishing with the Nez Perce Tribe – Fisheries exhibit.
As with the first festival to the twenty-first, there will be place-based learning, conversation, and collaboration. Join us from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds for the 21st annual Woodlands & Watersheds Festival where we’ll be celebrating the past, current, and future stewards of this special place we call home.
