The Grasshopper Festival is held in Republic, WA, the fourth weekend of July (July 24 & 25, 2015). In 2015, the “Bug Chef Weekend” is June 26 & 27.
This is a fun, quirky summertime festival with an insect parade (costumers, drill teams, bug cars…); art, food, and info booths in the park; and activities such as mask, pinata, and musical instruments making, storytelling, face painting, and…….sampling of real grasshoppers!
So, Why The Grasshopper Festival ?
The “do-good” answer, is that grasshoppers are one of the more popular insects to eat (80% of the world eats insects), and with our abundant local supply, we want to contribute to our own self-sufficiency, and global food security, in a healthy, responsible, sustainable way.
The *FUN* answer is it’s a quirky festival idea that spontaneously emerged from our community on social media, during a boom grasshopper season. After the initial revenge fantasies of different ways to eat them, it was suggested that they are a good future food, so why not turns lemons into lemonade and have fun with the hoppers!