Harvestfest

On the Saturday of Harvestfest, the chili at Canyon Elementary School in Hungry Horse is judged first and eaten after. Businesses, organizations, families and home cooks enter their pots, and the judges work through them between 11:00 and 12:30. The top three win $75, $50 and $25. Then every pot is served free to whoever came, with cornbread from a parallel competition, until it runs out.

The 2026 festival is the fourth. It falls on Saturday, October 17, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Entry is free. The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce runs it. The Chamber represents the businesses of Columbia Falls and the outlying communities on the way to Glacier National Park, and it recommends, but does not require, a donation to the Canyon Kids Christmas Fund.

Chili at noon, pie at half past one

The afternoon keeps a posted schedule:

• 11:00: A silent dessert auction opens. People bring a dessert, bid on one, or both.
• 12:30: The 5k awards are handed out.
• 12:45: Children in costume run a fun run and then show the costumes off.
• 1:30: The pie-eating contest begins.
• 2:00: The kids’ fall competitions and relay races begin.
• 2:30: The dessert auction closes.

All day there are crafts and games and a Kid’s Corner of fall activities put on by the Imagine If Library. There is a kids’ activity called Spooky Substances, along with raffle baskets, yard games when the weather allows, and a tour of large equipment.

Through September 2026 the Chamber’s social media worked up the cook-off. In one reel, Ambassador Kristen from Glacier Bank asked fellow Ambassador Chelsea of Park Side Credit Union, “Will you bring your chili to HarvestFest?” Chelsea said yes. Another showed Denyne fretting over her recipe while Laura kept her ingredients sealed. The Chamber dared others to beat Laura’s “secret recipe.” In a third, Laura was putting in miles for the 5k while Denyne and Haley trained with what the Chamber called “a more pie-focused approach.”

Where the money goes depends on which page is read:

• The Chamber’s festival page says a portion of the 2026 proceeds will go to a local nonprofit, group or family.
• The Chamber’s Facebook and Instagram posts name Land to Hand MT.
• The race registration page says proceeds support the Chamber, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, and that a portion will go to West Glacier Elementary School for school programs, materials and projects.

Out and back along the South Fork

The Harvestfest 5k starts at 11:00 sharp at the school and returns to it. The course runs out and back on a gravel road beside the South Fork of the Flathead River. The race is chip-timed, and medals are handed out after. Walkers are welcome, and so are strollers, though the registration page warns of the gravel. The Chamber’s page adds one more instruction for runners: bring bear spray, just in case.

A pie auction and a cornhole bracket, 2023

The first Harvestfest was held at the same school on Saturday, October 21, 2023. The Hungry Horse News announced it ten days ahead. That first program included:

• cake, pie and prize walks
• pumpkin painting
• a fall movie for the kids
• a cornhole tournament in advanced and non-advanced brackets, run by the Badrock Baggers

The auction then was for pies only, and half the proceeds went back to the Hungry Horse community. The costume parade went around the grounds at noon, when the free chili lunch also began. Visitors were asked for a food bank donation instead of the Christmas fund. The chili prizes were the same as now, though judging ended at noon. The paper told cooks to bring plenty “so they can feed the community.”