Privacy Policy Create Site Map

Trailing Of The Sheep Festival

00:00 [Applause] 00:01 [Music] 00:06 a great believer that we all have 00:10 stories to tell and I think ours in this 00:12 valley is about the history of the Sheep 00:17 you have to realize that this is the 00:19 oldest form of Agriculture that's ever 00:22 been on the planet and I think that's 00:25 one of the most significant developments 00:26 of mankind and it's something who've not 00:30 very well appreciated and it should be 00:33 [Music] 00:43 today you're standing at the 23rd annual 00:44 sheep Folklife fair our authentic living 00:47 history to celebrate all things of the 00:50 sheep industry trailing is when you're 00:52 just moving the Sheep from place to 00:53 place as they migrate our festival is 00:56 based around their migration south it is 00:58 not a reenactment 00:59 it's Idaho living history these are 01:01 sheep that have been grazing in the 01:03 mountains all summer that now need to 01:05 make it south to find a place to grace 01:06 for winter and instead of taking them 01:08 down their natural sheep driveway we 01:10 bring them down Main Street to celebrate 01:11 them there's classes you can take 01:13 whether you want to cook with lamb 01:14 whether you want to learn to dye wool 01:16 there's there's wolf s classes there's 01:18 cooking classes you can visit vendors 01:20 watch them weave and spin and take home 01:22 some wolves to try yourself 01:23 we have about 25,000 visitors and locals 01:26 that attend our festival last year we 01:28 had people from 49 states and 15 01:30 countries word has gotten out about our 01:32 festival we keep it authentic we keep it 01:34 genuine we really are here to celebrate 01:36 and educate the history of sheep herding 01:38 and ranching in Idaho and the West 01:41 so excited I mean how can you not be 01:44 excited to see all these people wanting 01:46 to know about the things that we care so 01:48 much about it so my 23rd year I come 01:51 down to run every class in the wool fest 01:53 portion of trailing of the Sheep and 01:55 this class that you're seeing today is a 01:58 wet felting class felt is the oldest 02:01 textile made in human history so this is 02:04 water friction merino wool maybe a 02:07 little alpaca and a lot of muscle these 02:10 are just awesome women we have a full 02:12 class today and it's bustling what we're 02:17 all doing is laying out our road pieces 02:20 of roving we'd wet it down with water 02:23 and a cup of soap and now we're 02:25 educating the fibers so they will bond 02:29 together and we will come up with a 02:32 marvelous piece of fabric something like 02:38 this and texture very very light very 02:40 ethereal textiles by their nature are 02:43 tactile and therefore spiritual we wrap 02:45 ourselves we wrap people we love right 02:49 it's comforting it's not just about the 02:50 look and so for me it is a very soulful 02:53 experience to create any kind of test 02:55 style but wool in particular I love 02:57 really comes right from the earth right 02:59 from nature 03:02 a fiber artist specializing in tapestry 03:05 weaving and I've been doing this since 03:08 1970s 03:09 and I have a group of very interesting 03:11 people some of them are accomplished 03:13 weavers and they're just interested in 03:16 learning a new technique and some of 03:19 them are beginners I think when you're 03:22 spinning your mind wanders and even when 03:24 you're weaving you know everything just 03:26 kind of falls into place you can you 03:28 just let it go 03:30 it's an amazing event I love all the 03:32 interaction of all the different people 03:34 that are here and all the products that 03:35 are here I've been sewing since I was a 03:38 young girl and now that I found making 03:40 rugs I've just gone crazy with it I love 03:45 making the rugs that I make from my wall 03:47 products it's not leaving it because I 03:51 don't weep might make them literally by 03:53 hand sometimes is very frustrating and 03:55 it's like oh this is like the nightmare 03:57 of the nightmares but to see these rugs 04:01 completed just look at look at the 04:02 wonderful colors any of them just fills 04:07 you with joy just filthy with joy I am 04:11 the creator of the sheet pile footstool 04:13 and I come from Germany and I brought my 04:16 product with me three years ago it 04:19 actually originated as an art 04:21 installation when we took them downtown 04:22 Frankfort it was a one flock of 100 foot 04:25 stools it has a lot of love to create 04:27 this little guy the sanding and the wood 04:29 cutting and I love making every single 04:31 one of them I was a sheep herder for 04:32 several years for a ranch and in Idaho 04:35 and now I chase them with the camera 04:39 get into training the simple version is 04:43 my husband I worked in Africa studying 04:45 African Wild Dogs for six years and then 04:48 when I came back to the US I saw a sheep 04:49 dog chow and so then I decided I want a 04:52 border collie and for 18 years I got 04:53 various rescues that could not hurt and 04:55 finally eight years ago I got one that 04:58 had all that you know all the talent he 05:00 ran here three years ago and so my first 05:01 dog took a long time to go through and 05:04 then once I had it you're off and 05:05 running a lot of times it's just 05:07 patience that you're learning you gotta 05:09 let things take time so raise precocious 05:11 shoes easy to Train things were fun easy 05:13 and it happened very easily and right 05:15 now at home I've got a two year old dog 05:17 who's normal and so I have to let it be 05:20 that he's normal and I things are gonna 05:22 take longer and be patient and accept 05:25 each tiny little step forward that you 05:27 see and you do that with people if you 05:29 do that with your kids and everything 05:32 works out so well the kids were easier 05:35 than this a typical day for sheep burger 05:39 involves getting up before daylight 05:41 finding your sheep following them as 05:44 they graze until the day gets hot then 05:48 they lay down and then you either go 05:49 back to camp or are you lay down and 05:53 there were my Zen moments when I'd be 05:55 sitting there on a hillside and what the 05:57 whole world in front of me and I'll just 05:58 go this is perfect this is where I want 06:00 to be 06:08 you

Consistently listed among the top ten Fall Festivals worldwide, The Trailing of the Sheep Festival in historic Sun Valley, Idaho is hosted every October, an experience that can only be described as a mixture of the local 4th of July Parade on Main Street USA, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and a living, breathing DIY Pinterest page. Take peek at what makes this gem of a festival so extraordinary.

TUNDRA MEDIA

Featured Podcasts

ALL PODCASTS

Loading...

Loading...