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Press release from the Yurok Tribe: 

All are invited to the Yurok Tribe’s 60th Annual Klamath Salmon Festival on Saturday, August 17 in Klamath.

The 60th Salmon Festival offers enjoyment for everyone. The family friendly event features a parade, Ney-puey Fun Run, live music by Blue Rhythm Revue and Brett McFarland and the Freedom Riders, kids’ activities, basket-weaving demonstrations, Stick Game, softball, basketball, arm-wrestling and Indian Card Game Tournaments, high-quality gift items made by more than 100 local vendors and 20 delicious food options.

The Yurok Tribe decided to make this year’s festival a celebration of tribal elders because the event is turning 60. Composed by the Yurok Language Program, this year’s theme is an expression of appreciation for the tribal elders who paved the way for the Tribe’s continued success. The theme is Cho’ skuy’ soo huuew kue no’-o-muen-o-wo-nee. “May the ones that endure live well.” All festival attendees over 60 will be served a free home-cooked lunch.

Living Yurok elders sacrificed so much for everything the Tribe has today. They fought in the Salmon War in the late 1970s to preserve the Tribe’s federally reserved fishing right. Also in the 1970s, tribal elders from local tribes prevented logging companies and the US Forest Service from building the Gasquet-Orleans Road (GO-Road) through the sacred High Country. If constructed, the road would have permanently desecrated the irreplaceable intertribal prayer site.

Tribal elders made equally substantial sacrifices during the decades-long process to pass the Hoopa Yurok Settlement Act in 1988. The federal legislation set the stage for the modern tribal government.

In 2002, following the catastrophic fish kill, tribal elders and younger generations accelerated the effort to remove four dams on the Klamath River. Through bake-sale fundraisers, litigation and protests at shareholders meetings on two continents, the campaign made dam removal a reality despite tremendous odds. The dams will be dismantled by early fall in what is considered the largest salmon restoration project in history.

In recognition of dam removal, Brett McFarland and the Freedom Riders will be playing original music from their brand-new album Humboldt at the festival. The album contains a soul-stirring single called Klamath, which details the river’s near demise and the tribally driven effort to un-dam and restore the Klamath.

Dam removal will reopen approximately 400 miles of historic habitat and extensively restore the river’s natural flow regime. In time, dam removal will also significantly reduce the amount of fish pathogens and toxic algae in the river. Fisheries experts expect struggling salmon stocks to increase as the river ecosystem heals.

During the last several years, the Klamath’s salmon runs have sharply declined largely due to the dams. The 2024 fish forecast is slightly better than last year, but still below average and not nearly large enough for a commercial fishery. For the second year in a row, there will be no salmon at the Salmon Festival.

Through dam removal and restoration, the Yurok Tribe is confident that the Klamath’s salmon runs will recover. Right now, there is more positive momentum on the Klamath than ever before. Large-scale river restoration work is happening in lower, middle and upper Klamath. More habitat rehabilitation projects are planned for next year too.

The Yurok Tribe is optimistic that salmon will return to the festival menu soon.

*This year’s festival received generous support from Clean California, Green Diamond Resource Company and LACO and Associates.

The Salmon Festival parking area and shuttle are located off Klamath Mill Road. Please do not park on Highway 101.