The 46th annual celebration of the Yarnell–Peeples Valley community—Yarnell Daze, the Mountaintop Festival 2015—will be held on Saturday, May 9, and is shaping up to be the perfect fun event for the entire family. Festival events begin at 9 a.m. and the day will be filled with a huge variety of free activities.
A highlight of Yarnell Daze is the Parade that starts at 10 a.m. on Main Street. It is something wonderful from out of the past with antique cars and floats, horses, clowns and fire trucks. Visitors should be parked and on the side of Highway 89 to cheer on Grand Marshal Chuck Tidey, president of the Yarnell Hill Recovery Group and the Yarnell-Peeples Valley Chamber of Commerce. In January, Chuck was named “Citizen of the Year” by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office in recognition of his hard work for the community. When he received his award, Chuck credited the entire recovery team, including his wife Leah, for their efforts in rebuilding the community following the June 2013 devastating fire.
Other Mountaintop Festival 2015 events include Highway 89 being lined with vendors, political candidates and visitors. Also, vendors will be at the Main Vendors Field and throughout town where you will enjoy many unique shops and an Antique Market. Firefighter relays will be held at the Yarnell Fire Station. The Fine Arts Show will be set up at the Blue Barn (corner of Table Top and Hwy 89) with the Go Green Vendors lined up in the parking lot.
A KidZone of games and crafts, a magician, Go Green Zone displaying the local Spider PHARM-live spiders, water conservation, sheep shearing, ice cream eating contest and more. Don’t miss the special program for youngsters at the Yarnell Library.
Live music on the main stage will include three bands—blues, popular rock and country music—as well as Astarte Sihaya & Goddess belly dancers. The popular Easy Listening stage will feature local talent, mixed marshal arts and Hypnotist Mort Borkowitz. There will be outdoor dancing at the Beer Garden and great food.
Car show entrants will receive a t-shirt and dash plaque and there will be a People’s Choice Car Show award.
A Silent Auction will raise money for local nonprofit organizations including: Yarnell Food Pantry; Yarnell Community Center Meals on Wheels Program; People Who Care providing transportation to the elderly or ill; and Petey’s Playground, which shelters pets when owners are hospitalized or can no longer care for them.
You may want to take time to visit the proposed Memorial site for the Granite Mountain Hot Shots, St Joseph’s Shrine or the Tovar Grotto. It’s Mother’s Day weekend—bring the moms in your life up for the great weather, scenic views and a fantastic day of fun!
Applications for the parade, car show, art show and vendors or pictures of last year’s event are available at y-pvchamber.com. Visit Yarnell Daze 2015 on Facebook for more information. You can also contact Trish Edwards, the Yarnell Daze Chair, at 928-277-6674 or by email at InfoOnTheHill@gmail.com.
Yarnell is nestled in the Weaver Mountains at 4,800 ft elevation in the top of the Bradshaw Mountains on historic Highway 89, north of Wickenburg. There are many antique and gift shops and wonderful restaurants spread out over a mile. The area’s residents are proud of their creative go-to-it attitude that is helping them rebuild their community following the devastating wildfire that took the lives of 19 Granite Mountain Hot Shots and destroyed 127 homes.
(Note: Register writer Nancy Tidey Williams, who lives in Phoenix, has never met Chuck Tidey but they connected by email and phone a few years ago and figured out they are likely from different branches of the same family tree. It’s such a small world!)