Bald Eagle Days

On the third weekend of July, Cathlamet’s Main Street fills for Bald Eagle Days, the festival the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce puts on in the Wahkiakum County town each summer. The 2026 festival, the 45th, fell on Friday and Saturday, July 17 and 18. The chamber’s program listed a chalk art contest, a street market, a photography contest, live music, a variety show, a fun run and walk, a magic show, a vendor fair, a kid zone, a waterball battle, a dive-in movie, the parade, and fireworks. The Elochoman Slough Marina’s calendar gave the festival’s span as July 16 to 19 and added food, vendors, games, and beer from River Mile 38 Brewery.

The grand marshals for 2026 were WHEELhouse Cathlamet, a nonprofit formed in 2025. In its first year the group helped launch the Welcome House project and partnered with the University of Washington on the Connecting Cathlamet initiative. During the festival, the student designs and community visioning projects from that initiative hung on display at the Welcome House, 80 Division St. “We are extraordinarily impressed by the work they’ve done in the community in such a small amount of time,” said Ryan Murillo, the chamber’s executive director. “To be able to bring so many different groups and organizations together to work for the community, we felt this honor was definitely fitting.” The group led the Main Street Parade at noon on Saturday, July 18.

Chalk on the Friday sidewalks

The festival opens with chalk. In 2025 the 18th Annual Armstrong Memorial Sidewalk Chalk Contest began at 11 a.m. Friday at Strong Park. At 6 p.m. that evening there was a choice between the variety show at the Pioneer Center and the Photography Contest Showcase back at Strong Park. In 2015 the contest carried the full names of Rolly and Ginny Armstrong and was drawn in front of the Bank of the Pacific. In 2013 it covered the sidewalk at the bank, 56 Main St., and the frontage of Cathlamet Building Materials and Ace Hardware. Entrants that year were divided into three groups: children 7 and younger, adolescents 8 to 13, and adults 14 and older. Judging began at 5:30 p.m., with prizes for first, second, and third place.

Friday afternoons in past years also took visitors off Main Street. A farmers market on Puget Island sold fresh meat, vegetables, and bread to live music, at 59 W. Birnie Slough Road in 2015. The Spirit of Chief Wahkiakum Trolley ran between the marina, town, and the high school in 2014, and between the marina and the farmers market the following year. Tsuga Art Gallery held live music and food on Main Street both years, and in 2015 it marked its fourth anniversary at 70 Main St. In 2026 the Friday market belonged to the marina, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, from pancakes to the marina fireworks

Saturday has started for years with the Kiwanis breakfast at the marina. The 2013 menu offered scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, coffee, and orange juice for $6, with children 5 and under eating free and the money going to youth programs in the area. At 9 a.m. the runners leave from in front of Cathlamet Pharmacy, 74 Main St., on a 10k, a 5k, or a two-mile run-walk that finishes where it began. In 2015 the races benefited the Wahkiakum High School track and cross-country teams.

The rest of the day has been spent on Main Street. The 2013 notice describes classic cars parked there for close looks, live bands playing past the art gallery, and a big slide for children. In 2014 the bands were Running with Scissors, from 1 to 3 p.m., and Vibes, from 3 to 5. Laser tag was new that year, set up in an arena on Main Street, and the notice told visitors to look for the chamber’s buffalo burgers among the food stands. In 2015 the Bradley House sold antiques and collectibles. The Bank of the Pacific ran a kids area with a Velcro wall, face painting, and a dunk tank, and the Cathlamet Fire Hall handed out Popsicles and gave tours. The Wahkiakum Historical Society Museum offered train rides and root beer floats both years.

In the afternoon the fire department turns to water. The 2013 schedule set a firefighters’ water fight at 3 p.m. on Main Street near the Bank of the Pacific. By 2014 and 2015 it was a waterball fight with the fire department from 4 to 5 p.m.

At 6 p.m. the beer garden opens at the marina. Drop Anchor Brewery sponsored it in 2014, when Jones & Fischer, a country-rock band from Seattle, played from 7 to 10 for a $2 cover. In 2015 River Mile 38 Brewery hosted Purefusion featuring Joshua Wright, a rock and soul concert billed as a CD release party. The fireworks follow at 10 p.m. over the marina. The 2014 and 2015 notices called them one of the best fireworks shows in the state of Washington.

Log trucks and a stuffed eagle

The parade runs from Wahkiakum High School down Main Street to the marina. It stepped off at 11 a.m. in 2013 and at noon in later years. Each year has a theme, and entrants decorate floats, trucks, and tractors to fit it. The 2015 theme was “The Mighty Mighty Columbia River.” Trophies and awards go to category winners. “The small town parade is so small town, everybody wants to participate,” the 2013 notice reported, “from people walking their dogs all the way to log trucks.”

John Markon photographed the 2013 parade for The Daily News. The Wahkiakum Youth Baseball float went past the County Courthouse on Main Street with a stuffed bald eagle mounted on it. On the “Pigpen” float, artificial ears and snouts were mandatory, and the riders wore T-shirts printed with the names of famous swine. A top-hatted young man played Abraham Lincoln on a float sponsored by a gun show and promoting Second Amendment rights. A large inflatable float found the narrow streets between Main Street and the finish line at the Elochoman Marina a tight squeeze.

A Women’s Club parade

The festival began with that parade. The 2013 and 2014 accounts place the start “more than 26 years ago,” when Congress passed a law the 2013 notice calls the Endangered Bald Eagle Act and the 2014 and 2015 notices call the Bald Eagle Endangered Species Act. In response, the Cathlamet Women’s Club decided to parade through town in support of the bald eagle and to encourage people to protect it. The parade was held again each year and grew into a festival. The 2013, 2014, and 2015 accounts each put the crowds at more than 3,000 people.

The 2015 notice gave the bird’s own history alongside the town’s. The bald eagle was declared an endangered species in the U.S. in 1967. Its population rebounded after the pesticide DDT was banned, and it was reclassified from endangered to threatened in 1995. In June 2007 it was taken off the list of threatened and endangered species.

In 2013 the festival ran three days, Friday through Sunday, July 19 to 21, and closed with a wooden boat show on Sunday. By 2014 it had settled into its Friday-and-Saturday form. The marina announced that its Wooden Boat Show was canceled for 2026, with discussions under way about bringing it back in 2027. Through all of it, the bird the Women’s Club marched for has stayed close by. “The Cathlamet area has many bald eagles,” the 2013 notice reported, “and you can find them daily in and around Wahkiakum County.”