Lentil Festival starts Friday

Pullman’s 29th annual National Lentil Festival will get underway tomorrow with the world’s largest bowl of lentil chili arriving at Reaney Park at 5 p.m.

Friday’s lineup includes the free lentil chili plus a beer and wine garden near Spring Street. The food and marketplace vendors will also open at 5 p.m., along with the Lentil Land kid’s area and the garbanzo garden sponsored by Hinrichs Trading Company.

ZFun 106 will be on the main stage starting at 5 p.m. with music and trivia, and live entertainment begins at 6:15 with Mother Yeti. Adrian Xavier will follow at 7 p.m., the Shook Twins will hit the stage at 7:45 p.m. and Magic Giant will close out the night at 9 p.m.

Saturday’s line-up starts early with sporting events, with the Tase T. Lentil 5K fun run sponsored by Snap Fitness starting off the day in the Pufferbelly Depot parking lot at 7:30 a.m. At 8 a.m., the Pullman Lion’s Club will host its annual lentil pancake breakfast in Cougar Plaza at the corner of Grand Avenue and Olsen Street. Breakfast includes lentil pancakes, scrambled eggs, ham, juice and coffee for $8 for those 12 and older or $4 for children aged 5-11. Children younger than 5 can eat free.

The sporting activities continue at 9 a.m. with the co-ed softball tournament at the city playfields, Tase T. Lentil mini golf tournament at the Airway Heights Golf Course and the 3-on-3 hoop classic at Reaney Park.

The Walk of Fame ceremony, sponsored by Sam Dial Jewelers, is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Main Street. Inductees this year are Dan Maher, who is being recognized for more than 30 years with his three-hour public radio show “Inland Folk”; Richard (Dick) Fry, former WSU sports information director and historian of Washington State College and Washington State University athletics; residents Mike and Sue Hinz, who are being recognized for their commitment to Pullman and the Chamber’s Fourth of July celebration and track and field at Pullman High School, and Lt. Col. Robert and Miriam Rehwaldt, who have volunteered for many organizations.

The Walk of Fame ceremony will be followed by the grand parade down Main Street at 11 a.m. Also at 11, the food and marketplace vendors will open again, as will the Lentil Land kid’s area, the garbanzo garden and the beer and wine garden.

Live cooking demonstrations from PNW and the Moscow Food Co-op are scheduled for 12, 1 and 2 p.m.

at the gazebo stage.

The annual Legendary Lentil Cook-off is scheduled for 3 p.m., also at the gazebo stage.

The top five finalists who submitted recipes for the cook-off will compete for the top prize.

The finalists are Areli Biggers of El Paso, Texas, lentil loaded lazy lasagna; Vivian Levine of Summerfield, Fla., red lentil pumpkin shake; Lori Freer from Ithaca, N.Y., coconut almond sweet potato granola with crispy lentils; Susan Bickta from Kutztown, Pa., hearty lentil, bacon and barley soup, and Daljeet Singh of Coral Springs, Fla., lentil-cornmeal dumplings in lentil broth.

The recipes will be judged by a panel of five judges who will award the top three places.

Also, the first 100 festival-goers in line at the gazebo stage will receive a token to judge all five recipes.

They will award their token to their favorite recipe, and that will determine the people’s choice award.

The Lil’ Lentil royalty coronation is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Lentil Land. The 2016 Lil’ Lentil King Owen Koerner and Lil’ Lentil Queen Kaylee Caessens will pass on their crowns at that time.

Live entertainment starts at noon with Ian Hale and The Legacy on the main stage, followed by the Olson Bros. Band at 1:15 p.m and High Valley at 2:30 p.m.

The festival concludes at 5 p.m.