Yaak Winter Festival coming this weekend
During the Yaak Winter festival on Saturday, one lucky Yaak lady will becrowned Queen of the Yaak with a crown made with hides and animal fur by the Yaak's very own Will Stringfellow. (courtesy of Gwen Allen)
In the long winter, a local Yaak business has been putting on a “very-Yaak” event for the past four years that promises music, spaghetti, a pageant and cross-country skiing, but it wouldn’t be complete without outhouse races.
Gwen Allen and Dustin Sconyears, owners of the Yaak River Tavern & Mercantile have put on the Yaak Winter Festival for the last four years.
Allen originally thought of the idea when she moved to the Yaak five years ago and bought the tavern.
“Winter is long and people get cabin fever,” Allen said. “[The festival] a lot of fun, it gives people something to do and it helps business.”
Allen and her husband, Sconyears, were married shortly before moving to the Yaak. Sconyears is from Oklahoma and Allen is from northern Michigan.
The event is inspired from Allen’s home state, which she said doesn’t differ from the Yaak very much.
Apparently, outhouse races also happen in northern Michigan — and in many other states across the country including North Carolina, Iowa, Washington and Virginia to name a few.
An outhouse race entails one person, sitting in a makeshift outhouse that stands six feet tall mounted on skis or wheels, as their teammates pushes the outhouse down a hill in a race to cross the finish line.
Like any outhouse, these must also be installed with a toilet seat and a roll of toilet paper.
The annual outhouse race will take place on a hill located next to the tavern.
On top of the outhouse races, the Yaak Rod & Gun Club will also host the Yaak-a-Loppet Fun Cross Country Ski Race, which will have a shorter course for kids and this year comes with a groomer.
The race is followed by the Yaak Winter Festival Queen Pageant, which Allen said like many items on the agenda is “very Yaak.”
Not a typical pageant, instead of formal gowns, the contestants are judged on their camo-evening wear, winter long-john fashion and their “Yaak Survival Talent.”
There will also be a talent portion of the pageant, which can be as goofy or as serious as contestants want to make it — talents such as canning or hoola-hooping are not off the table, Allen said.
They will also have vendors set up outside the tavern on Saturday and Sunday.
Prior to moving out to the Yaak, Allen said she and her husband both loved the west, visiting the area before, they knew they wanted to move to the Yaak eventually.
“We love it here,” Allen said. “We love the people. You have people from all walks of life.”
One participant in the Yaak festivities, Allen said, brings an outhouse from Western Washington
Following is the schedule of events for the Yaak Winter Festival on Feb. 17-19.
Here’s a schedule of events:
Feb. 17, 6 p.m. — All you can eat spaghetti dinner; Yaak River Tavern
Feb. 18, 11 a.m. — Yaak-a-Loppet Fun X-Country Ski Race; Yaak Rod & Gun Club
6 p.m. — Yaak Winter Festival Queen Pageant; Yaak River Tavern
8 p.m. — Live Music with Brent Jameson; Yaak River Tavern
Feb. 19, 2 p.m. — Yaak River Tavern Outhouse Races
Award ceremony and live music with Rural 508 following the outhouse races. Sponsored by the Yaak River Tavern & Mercantile, Yaak Montana.
For more information, including lodging information, call 295-4706 or email yaakrivertavern@gmail.com.