Kla Ha Ya Days

On the Saturday morning of Kla Ha Ya Days, breakfast is free. In 2026 the pancakes went out from 8 to 9 o’clock on the Carnegie Lawn at 105 Cedar Avenue, hosted by Stoneage Construction and Fiscal Foxes. At 10 the parade stepped off down First Street, running from Union to Avenue D. The organizers call it “the historic KlaHaYa Days Parade” and say it draws thousands of people from across the Pacific Northwest. Its entry classes include floats, drill teams, bands, horse units, animal acts, and a humorous and novelty division.

Kla Ha Ya Days is the City of Snohomish’s official celebration, held the third weekend in July in the historic downtown. Its organizers describe it as “a community of events BY Snohomish FOR Snohomish.” The 2026 festival ran July 15 to 19, which by the festival’s count was its 113th year.

Saturday on First Street

When the parade had passed, the street fair opened at Cedar and First and ran until 6. From noon to 2 the Carnegie Lawn held the contests: a baby crawl, pie eating, and seed spitting. The festival’s own listings added a frozen-yogurt eating contest and a youth art exhibit at the Carnegie. Circus Kla Ha Ya, billed as interactive, began at 2. At 1015 First Street visitors could make their own souvenirs. Across from the lawn, according to the family guide Seattle’s Child, the Snohomish Lions kept a beverage garden and main stage, with a Maker’s market and food trucks close by. The same guide lists a salmon bake among the festival’s offerings.

The festival also fills the Friday before. In 2026 the Frogtastic Kids’ Fair ran from 3 to 7 at Averill Field, beside the Boys and Girls Club, and cost nothing to attend. Afterward the club’s new Teen Center held a Teen Night for ages 12 to 18, with video game tournaments, dodgeball in the gym, and ice cream parties. Seattle’s Child called it the first Teen Night. At 8:30 the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association began an outdoor movie on the Carnegie Lawn.

The midway at Harvey Field

The carnival sets up away from downtown, at Harvey Field on Airport Way. Davis Shows Northwest runs it, with thrill rides, family rides, kiddie rides, games, and food concessions. The midway opened on the Wednesday, which in 2026 was a kids’ day with $4 rides. Thursday was a buddy day, with a second armband at half price. Sunday was a military day, with discounted armbands for anyone showing military, police, or fire identification.

Photographs in The Herald show the Harvey Field midway on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Emily Hillman, 2, secures a fish for a prize with her mother, Piper. David Crabtree, 20, in his first year with the carnival, beckons people to try shooting a basketball for a prize. Jim Huff, 55, co-owner of Unique Kettle Korn, scoops popcorn into a bag. Other frames show children running off a giant slide, a child stepping into a house of mirrors, riders on a carousel, and the rides lit as the sun went down.

Show cars, a hoedown, and balloons at dusk

On Sunday, July 19, 2026, the car show ran from 9 to 3 at Stocker Farms on Marsh Road. It offered activities for children, a beer garden, vendor booths, food trucks, and a raffle. Cars were judged for best wheels, paint, interior, and engine bay, and as best classic and best modern. Downtown, the weekend closed with the Hoe Down in Downtown. A local real estate firm’s guide describes it as a free family event with line dancing led by professional instructors and complimentary soft drinks and light snacks, with barbecue plates, beer, and wine for sale. The same guide says the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association hosts it and Bickford Ford sponsors it.

The balloons came a week later. On Saturday, July 25, 2026, the Kla Ha Ya Days Balloon Glow filled Harvey Field. The Snohomish Block Party, a nonprofit arts group, organized it in partnership with the festival. Gates opened at 4. From 4:30 there was a vendor fair, food trucks, a beer garden, and a Kid Zone. Fretland played from 6:30 to 8, and Antwane Tyler from 8:30. The hot air balloons were lit at dusk, beginning about 8:15. The day before, the festival posted: “Anyone already planning what they’ll be eating at the balloon glow? Just us?” The Block Party gives July 30 to August 1, 2027, as the dates of its next Balloon Glow and Block Party.

Klahowya, 1913

Kla Ha Ya Days began in 1913. The Herald reported in 2023 that the name comes from the Chinook word “Klahowya,” meaning “welcome.” The city’s calendar puts it more simply: “The native word Kla Ha Ya means welcome.” The downtown streets the festival fills make up the Snohomish Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2018 The Herald previewed the 105th festival, set for July 18 to 22, with up to 25,000 people expected. It listed the standing traditions: the baby crawl, the children’s sawdust treasure hunt, the watermelon eating and cherry pit spitting contest, and the parade, which past participants had voted the festival’s most popular event. Andrew Urie, then president of the festival board, was adding new events. A 14-foot megaraptor walked and roared in the parade. It was one of several realistic puppets designed by Universal Studios and operated by DinoCrew NW of Lake Stevens. Its owner, Tyler McGuinn, said children were either curious or frightened at first. “They warm up to them really quickly,” he said. Mayor John Kartak sat in a dunk tank outside First and Union Kitchen, a pole vault competition ran on Glen Avenue, and helicopter rides lifted off beside the carnival. The Vuelta La Luna Circus brought aerialists, fire eaters, and trapeze acts to Harvey Field.

“I want to be able to say maybe 10 years from now that they’re doing something that’s going on at the festival this year,” Urie said.

The grand marshal that year was Gil Schwarzmiller, a founding member of the Sauerkraut Band, a marching band then in its 50th year. “Everybody in Snohomish has so many fond memories watching the Sauerkraut Band when they were kids,” Urie said.

Several events have since moved. In 2018 the Show and Shine filled First Street from Maple to Avenue A, and the kids’ fair met at Snohomish Station on Bickford Avenue. In 2023 a Dusk SnoGlow was set to light the sky over Harvey Field on the festival’s Friday evening. By 2026 the cars had gone to Stocker Farms, the kids’ fair to Averill Field, and the balloons to a Saturday of their own.

The festival has always raised money for the town, and the reported sums vary. Proceeds go to Snohomish organizations and to high school students. Urie told The Herald the festival raised $7,000 in donations and scholarships in 2017. In 2023 The Herald reported that the 2022 festival raised about $36,000 for more than a dozen groups, among them the Snohomish Boys & Girls Club. The festival’s sponsorship page says it gives back over $10,000 a year. It names past recipients including Snohomish Volunteer Search & Rescue, the Snohomish Fire Explorers, the Snohomish Education Foundation, and the Snohomish Healing Project.

The 2023 festival was the first under Bill Webster, the new executive board president, who hoped to double or triple that $36,000. He and his wife, Erin, who also served on the board, had bought a house in Snohomish in 2019. “I’ve been all over the country,” Webster said. “This is hands-down the best place I’ve ever lived.” His board kept First Street open most of the weekend. It also added a shuttle to City Hall from free parking at the carnival and at Snohomish High School for the approximately 20,000 people who came.

The same organizers keep the calendar going between Julys. They run an Easter Parade and Bonnet Contest, which reached its 44th year in 2026, and a Zombie Walk in October that raises money for the Snohomish Community Food Bank. In January, at the Carnegie Building, they let loose Tad the Tadpole to see whether he sees his shadow, and whether there will be more spring or less.