Eden-Hazelton Celebration

Friday on Wilson Lake

The Celebration opens on a Friday evening at Jim Johnson Memorial Park, on the shore of Wilson Lake, three-quarters of a mile north of Highway 25 on 1900 East, the Murtaugh Road. This is the Lions Lakeside Social. It is free and family-friendly, with music and food vendors, and after the sun sets there is a star party, weather and moon permitting. The Valley Recreation District keeps RV and tent sites at the lake.

On the afternoon of June 26, 2026, the Valley Lions Club posted that the social would go ahead anyway: “We’re throwing caution to the wind (as there may be a breeze) and hoping for the best.” Lyndsey and Landon would play at seven, and the food trucks would be ready a little before. “Bundle up and join us!” the post ended.

Saturday behind the water tower

On Saturday the Celebration moves into Hazelton, to Valley Community Park, which sits directly behind the white water tower at the south end of Middleton Avenue. The day starts with a community breakfast. A tractor pull follows on the park grounds, and a parade goes through town. Evening brings music, food vendors and activities. A regional events listing gave the 2026 Saturday evening at the park as 6 p.m. to dusk.

The First Segregation Fire District sets off the fireworks that close the night. The Lions call the display legendary and say the Celebration draws more than a thousand people. In 2017 Hazelton told KMVT that its show was bigger than even Twin Falls’.

That 2017 edition also brought back a carnival, its first in a while, and added a truck show. The station reported that Hazelton never waits for the Fourth of July and always holds its celebration on the last weekend of June. Eugene Brown, the city’s public works director, said: “The small town antics that we’re used to that we grew up with, we try to keep that tradition alive.” Lorna West, the city clerk and treasurer, said: “It’s pretty exciting, I like watching everyone come together, it’s good for the community it brings a lot of people and I just enjoy it.”

Two Lions clubs, then one

The Hazelton and Eden Lions clubs began the Celebration in 1953. They meant it as a time for neighbors to meet and for people who had moved away to come home. Both of those clubs are now former clubs. The Valley Lions Club, which carries on their work, began with a thrift store. In 2004, teachers at the Valley School saw that more and more students could not afford clothes, and they started the Helping Hands Thrift Store in Hazelton. The club was chartered to run it. Its members now meet monthly at The Snug in Eden.

The Valley Lions held the first Lakeside Social in 2020, to give neighbors a chance to reconnect after a time of isolation. In 2021 they took over the Celebration itself. They bill the edition of June 25–26, 2027, as the 74th Annual Eden-Hazelton Celebration.