Tag Archives: entertainment

Events, Places to See, Soon, To Dos

Festival of America set for July 4-6

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Cell phones and digital cameras try to capture the fireworks, as the moon pops up in the background above Grand Coulee Dam during the 2011 fireworks off the top of the dam.

Celebration planned for 4th of July

Everyone likes a good, old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration.

You can enjoy one this week, the “Festival of America” a three-day affair, right here in the Grand Coulee Dam area.

The celebration kicks off on Thursday, July 4, with music in the park below the Visitor Center.

There’s lots to do. A number of craft booths will offer goods and several food booths will fix a summer-time lunch or dinner for you.

The music will take you right up to the Laser Light Show time. And to cap it all off, about 10:30 p.m., there will be the giant fireworks display right off the top of Grand Coulee Dam on July 4.

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Award winning Elvis impersonator Steve Sogura headlines this year’s show, joined by the Cruizers with classic rock, Kathy Boyd & Phoenix Rising with bluegrass and more.

Music in the park continues Friday and Saturday, as do the craft and food booths, with tours of the dam and Laser Light Show adding to the celebration.

The chamber of commerce has added a number of family-friendly games, good for all ages, at this year’s celebration.

Plus, this year the community will see the debut of the sport of roller derby in this area. Teams from around the state will come for a demonstration skrimmage July 5 at North Dam Park in Grand Coulee.

The Festival of America is sponsored by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Coulee Dam Casino, with music arranged for by the town of Coulee Dam.

All the particulars are in a special “Festival of America” celebration section below.

Soon, To Dos

Really loud music coming on Friday

A band that claims to be Spokane’s loudest will play Friday night North Dam Park and Event Center.

33 will rock out the amphitheater at North Dam Park and Event Center Friday, for free

The two-hour concert (7-9 p.m.) is free, sponsored by a hearing aid business (kidding, but it is free).

33 is allegedly responsible for forcing the management of popular music venues in Spokane to repaint interior walls with their 136-decibel sound. Just kidding about the paint, too, but I think that dB figure is right.

The band is being brought in by the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District.

Soon, To Dos

Rock it at North Dam with Jr. Cadillac!

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This is the ultimate Good Time Band, and they’ll play in Grand Coulee Sept. 3.

Seattle’s legendary good-time rock n roll band… Jr. Cadillac will play at North Dam Park for your enjoyment Saturday, Sept. 3, and it won’t cost you a bloody thing!

These guys put on a helluva show. They’re entertainers and really, really fine musicians. Take a listen.

What do they play? A mixture of stuff from the four decades they’ve been teaching the Pacific Northwest how to have a good time. Start with Louie Louie and then get more fun.

We’re talking the big band, with horns and all that. No slowed down boom-chick-chick stuff. This is a big show.

And it’s free. Paid for (mostly) with Hotel/Motel taxes like the ones you pay whenever you check into a motel room or campsite. So kiss the next tourist you see. (If you are a tourist, leave a message and we can connect at the show!)

North Dam Park features a grassy amphitheater. Bring your blankets, your picnic stuff. Some shade and some sunscreen. We figure we can fit 1,500 people. First come, first served.

And get ready to rock at North Dam.

Sept. 3. from 4-7 p.m.

View Grand Coulee in a larger map

Astounding Facts, Places to See, Soon, To Dos

See the night sky, coulee style

Live a little, learn a lot with this fresh look at the night sky

One of the great things about being located where there is a part of the National Park Service, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and a great state park is that those entities all come with talented, interesting people.

And some of those folks will put on an interesting program for free this Saturday night.

A community astronomy program will be held July 9, beginning at Grand Coulee Dam’s Visitor Center at 7:15 p.m. and ending up at Crown Point at 9 p.m., according to Janice Elvidge of the National Park Service.

Elvidge will begin the night’s program in the Visitor Center auditorium where she will present an introduction to the night sky and explore through pictures some of the wonders of the heavens.
After that part of the program, those attending will retire to Crown Point where they will get to take a look at the galaxy, a nebula, the moon and one of our solar system’s planets through a telescope.

The Crown Point overlook, by the way, is a rather out-of-the-way must see, to which you might wish to return the next morning if you haven’t been there yet. It offers a fantastic view down river and up lake way over the top of the dam.

And if you’re a geo-cacher, there’s a nearby treasure to find. I’ll bet even Elvidge doesn’t know that.

Elvidge encourages people to bring their telescopes, spotting scopes or binoculars, if they have them, and to wear warm clothes.

She said the program will only be cancelled if it rains.

The event is sponsored by Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Washington State Parks, and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Places to See, Soon, To Dos

Fun planned over the Fourth

The top of Grand Coulee Dam serves as an impressive venue for fireworks.

In addition, to all the fun around Grand Coulee Dam, the food and craft booths in the park and great scenery, look for three days of outstanding music when the Grand Coulee Dam Festival of America is celebrated July 2, 3 and 4.

The Town of Coulee Dam is sponsoring the music for the second straight year, and according to Mayor Quincy Snow, the town is offering an outstanding assortment of music for the three-day event.

The venue for the event is the park below the Visitor Center. Music begins Saturday, July 2, with Eric Engebretson at 4 p.m.

Eric E, as he is also known, is familiar to coulee area music fans, having been a regular for several years during the Festival of America celebration. With his voice, guitar and a digital “looper” Eric E can pump out a song from just about any year named back to the first part of the last century.

Eric E works his musical magic at the 2010 Festival of America

Snow has scheduled what he calls “happy music” for the night cap with the Mariachi Estrella DeMeico band of Wenatchee. They make their second appearance here, and will be on stage from 6 p.m. until 9:30, just before the 10 p.m. showing of the Laser Light Show.

On Sunday, music begins again at 4 p.m. with Scott Smith and Kayla Taylor, a couple of area favorites. They play country, pop and rock renditions.

At 6 p.m. Campbell Road, a Celtic band, will perform in his first appearance at the festival.

The 8 p.m. appearance of the ever popular Steve Sogura, highlights the evening. His impersonation of Elvis Presley and his music has been a favorite at the festival for years. He will perform until just before the Laser Light Show.

As Elvis, Steve Sogura works the crowd at the Grand Coulee Dam Festival of America

On Monday, July 4, at 4 p.m., Smith and Taylor will be back with their variety of music styles for another two-hour performance.

At 6 p.m., older music lovers will connect with William Florian, former lead singer with the “New Christy Minstrels.” He will perform until 8 p.m., when Sogura will rock the area with a couple of hours of Elvis music.

The concerts, all three days, are free and financed through the town of Coulee Dam’s hotel/motel tax receipts.