Eatonville Salmon Fest

Day 4: Eatonville's Salmon Fest may not be the biggest event on the calendar, but there's no admission fee and for its size, there are loads of fun activities. Immediately adjacent to our Nisqually Land Trust booth, you could have a henna application or get your face painted, or you could make a salmon print on paper or a t-shirt (100% cotton shirts available for purchase at $8 for adult sizes, or you could bring your own). Both Cris and I opted to buy shirts on site (mine is the black one). Prints were free.

I don't imagine you've heard of salmon printing before, but you may have heard of leaf printing, i.e., art made by applying paint to a leaf and then transferring it by pressing the painted surface to paper. Salmon printing follows the same principle, only instead of a leaf, you use a salmon. Yeah, that's what I said...a salmon, a real one. Hatchery fish, previously frozen, were supplied for the purpose, and the same fish were used throughout the day. Prospective salmon-print artists lined up four to six deep at times to dab tempera or textile paint on dead fish with sponge applicators or small paintbrushes, and then with the help of an assistant at the booth, the "canvas" of paper or cloth was patted gently, moulding it to the fish's body. The resultant prints were then hung to dry. When done on fabric, the print must be ironed to set the paint before washing. It's not often that you get to take home a one-of-a-kind souvenir from a fair!