Trailing of the Sheep Yarn Crawl

The Trailing of the Sheep Festival is a five-day event based in Hailey, Idaho, with activities spread across the Wood River Valley. The festival marks the fall sheep trail, when bands of sheep move south from summer mountain grazing in the Sawtooth Mountains, and the centerpiece is a parade of sheep through downtown Ketchum. Programming weaves together sheepherding heritage and fiber arts: sheepdog trials, a Folklife Fair, and Wool Fest, where regional vendors sell fleece and fiber products from Western flocks. Basque cultural elements reflect the area's herding history. Cooking classes and farm-to-table lamb dinners round out the week. This is a fiber festival where the animals aren't a sideshow; the whole event exists because of the trail they've been walking for generations.