Post Falls Festival

On the second weekend of July the Post Falls Festival fills Q’emiln Park, a 78.5-acre city park on the south side of the Spokane River at the end of the Spokane Street Bridge. The name is pronounced “ka-mee-lin.” The park has a guarded swimming beach, a boat launch, barbecue pits, horseshoe pits, volleyball courts, picnic shelters and a concession stand. From it a visitor can reach the Post Falls Community Forest and the Q’emiln Climbing Walls. Its largest roof is the Grand Pavilion, 60 feet by 120. On festival weekend, bands and craft tables work under it and on the lawn beside it. Dogs are not allowed in the park.

Post Falls Parks & Recreation runs the festival from its office on the first floor of City Hall. Entry, parking and the shuttle cost nothing. In 2026 the city’s CityLink buses carried riders to the park on all three days, and riders found the stops with the Passio Go! app. The boat launch closes for the event. In 2026 it shut at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 9, and stayed closed through Monday, July 13.

Three days at the Main Stage and the Grand Pavilion

The 2026 festival ran July 10 through 12. Each morning at eleven the food and craft vendors opened. They closed at eight on Friday and Saturday and at four on Sunday. Through those hours the park also had inflatables for children, a beer garden, and live music on the Main Stage and in the Grand Pavilion. Pat Coast played classic rock. Kathy Colton & the Reluctants played bluegrass and country, High Risk Group played R&B, and The Rusty Jackson Band played country. The bill also included Dan Conrad’s modern covers, Lonesome Lyle, the Ron Greene Band’s “soulful roots,” Flip Side’s southern rock, the Kevin Shay Trio, Flash Point, and Rad’s Fondue, listed as “acoustic eclectica.”

The food line in 2026 ran to nineteen vendors. Among them were Ali’i Hawaiian Shave Ice, Huckleberry Scoops, Pops Kettle Corn, Rodeo Dogs, Seely Teriyaki, Taco Works, Friendly Island Grill, Gourmet Soul, Mac Daddys, Lemony Days, Sweet Ems Bakery and Travelin Tom’s Coffee. The craft and merchant rows held Outlaw Iron Co., Rock Cabin Farm, Idaho Jams, Rickey’s Jerky, Leather Inspired and Naturally Scotland. Classic Closet and Vintage Guitars had a booth, and so did Henna Me Pretty and Vivid Imaginations Airbrush Tattoos. Insurance agents, a gutter company and Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho had tables among them.

Saturday added a one-day Homemade Craft Fair in the Grand Pavilion, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The schedule also listed an interactive fishing game run by Idaho Fish & Game on the Grand Pavilion Lawn and the Flames of the Spirit Car Show at Post Falls City Hall, both from eleven to two. The city’s calendar promised vintage and classic cars at the show. At 9 p.m. the park showed a free movie, sponsored by Goldenwest Credit Union. The 2026 feature was National Treasure. On the last morning a community worship service was held on the Main Stage at ten. From noon to four, the group Litefeet taught a dance lesson workshop in the Grand Pavilion.

The parade on Seltice Way

The 2026 parade stepped off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 11, and traveled east to Idaho Road. Its theme was America 250, marking 250 years of American independence. Local businesses, organizations, performers and floats made up the line. Seltice Way was closed between Spokane and Idaho streets, and the units gathered on East Sixth Avenue between Frederick and Idaho. That year the city described itself as carrying on a community tradition as it “officially host[s] the Post Falls Festival Parade.”

Mark Rattner of KHQ reported on July 12, 2026, that more than 1,000 people lined the sidewalks for the parade. He also noted local artists, a movie, dancing and a car show in the park.

Since 1995, on Frederick Post’s river

According to KHQ, the festival began in 1995. Post Falls counted 7,349 people at the 1990 census and 17,247 at the 2000 census. By 2020 it had 38,485.

The town takes its name from Frederick Post, a German immigrant. In 1871 he built a lumber mill on the Spokane River, on land he bought from Andrew Seltice, Chief of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. The sale is recorded in a pictograph on a granite cliff in Treaty Rock Park. In 2026 the parade formed at the corner of Frederick Street and Seltice Way.