Swiss Tacos, Furry Herders and Leiderhosen

Bush Visit Blues? Head for the High Country for Labor Day Fun.

By Amy Seigel, 8-30-06

If a week of protesting President Bush’s visit, or protesting the protestors of President Bush’s visit, has you yearning for a little R&R, take a look at these Labor Day weekend festivities guaranteed to cure you of those Rocky Anderson-Cindy Sheehan-President Bush Blues.

This Friday and Saturday, Midway, Utah hosts the 59th annual celebration of Swiss Days. Held at the historic town square in Midway, Swiss Days is a traditional harvest festival with excellent food ranging from Swiss cookies, breads and tacos (Swiss tacos?) to a barbecue dinner on Saturday afternoon, and over 180 vendors selling a dizzying array of arts and crafts (of both Swiss and non-Swiss varieties). The festival also features plenty of music—everything from bluegrass and folk to yodelers and Swiss handbell ringers—a parade and a 10K run.

If yodelers and Swiss Misses just aren’t your thing, you may want to head over to Soldier Hollow for the 4th annual Classic Sheepdog Championship. The sheepdog competition features some of the world’s best border collies doing what they do best—herding sheep. If you go on Friday you’ll witness the dogs feeling out their new course and contending with fresh, wild sheep. On Saturday and Sunday, the top dogs will begin learning about the hill and the sheep, and by Monday, only the top 15 dogs will remain to compete for the Supreme Grand Championship. In addition to the working dog competitong, the festival includes a sheepdog starting clinic taught by the current American Champion, Amanda Milliken, daily agility and frisbee exhibitions by the K-9 Kings Flying Dogs, and a largely fiber-focused arts and crafts festival, complete with demonstrations of weaving, spinning and sheep shearing.

Or, if you like yodelers but prefer bratwurst, sauerkraut and apfelstrudel to furry herders, check out Snowbird’s Oktoberfest. While the official festival actually stretches over 13 days in August and September, Labor Day weekend is Grand Oktoberfest—plenty of German cuisine, crafts, local and national German bands and, oh yeah, more yodelers and plenty of great, Bavarian-style beer. What better way to wash down the week’s political mumbo-jumbo?

The festivities at Swiss Days run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with the 10K run beginning at 7 a.m. on Saturday. The Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship and Country Traditions Festival runs Friday through Monday. For information on ticket prices and event schedules, please visit their website. Snowbird’s Grand Oktoberfest runs Saturday through Monday, admission is free and the gates are open from noon to 6 p.m. each day. Just a reminder that while it may be tempting to bring Fido along to share in the festivities, all of these events are strictly “no dogs allowed.”

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