Yacolt’s Rendezvous Days will return on July 1-4

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With Yacolt’s Rendezvous Days just around the corner, the community is ready for the annual festival which has become a staple in town.

The four-day event will kick off on Friday, July 1 with a family-friendly kickball tournament at the Little League Fields and will offer a plethora of events that will conclude on Monday, July 4 with a parade.

Mayor Katie Listek is excited to participate in the festivities in the town, as Yacolt celebrates “the freedom that our country gets to enjoy.”

“Typically, (Rendezvous Days) was spread out over time,” Listek said. “It was days that the community could gather and do some fun things, but I know that it has transitioned over the years, and I really think that it’s come together in the last couple of years. Due to certain circumstances, people were really looking to make a bond with the rest of the community because we were lacking so much of it in the past couple of years.”

Listek said she wanted to bring back nostalgia by making the event as simple as possible, while carrying on the event’s traditions.

“So far, it’s been a huge hit,” she said.

Listek noted her favorite event is either the kickball tournament or the watermelon-eating contest, which this year will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 2. She described both of the events as “extremely fun to watch” and “very entertaining for everyone.”

The kickball tournament started in 2021 and was geared toward participants of all ages and skill levels. This year, however, Listek said the event will feature two divisions. The first one on July 1 appeals to families, while the second tournament on July 2 is more for competitive players.

“We got so much feedback last year about it being so much fun, which is why we added the competitive day for Saturday while the (outdoor vendor) market and everything will be going on,” Listek said.

Besides the consistent vendors at the outdoor market, she mentioned that a new restaurant, Backroads, will host its grand opening during Yacolt’s Rendezvous Days. The restaurant will serve pizza by the slice. Listek said it is owned by Mike Casetta and Matthew Seise, who also own Playmakers in Battle Ground.

Rendezvous Days is also known for its Fourth of July parade, which will feature Amboy Hardware, local real estate agents, the Model A Ford Club of America, and a logging truck. It’s scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 4. The winners of the parade will be announced following the parade at 11 a.m. at the Little League fields.



“Last year, we had a really big log truck, because the theme of our town is that we’re a logging town,” Listek said. “The reason Yacolt was founded was because we have a logging theme. The train provided that, and now a majority of people out here are loggers, so we always try to incorporate the history of the town into our celebration.”

Last year, Listek said she rode in the parade on a lawnmower, but she’s still deciding what her transportation method will be this time around. She plans to go with something that’s “non-traditional.”

“I don’t want to just sit in the back of a fancy car and wave,” she said. “I really like to be more involved and show a little more personality than that.”

Yacolt won’t light off fireworks during the festival. They will instead light up the town square, which is similar to what they do for the Christmas season.

The Bigfoot Fun Run will also return this year. It will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 2. 

The run is broken up into a 5K and 10K trail that reaches Bells Mountain. Listek said she has friends who are currently preparing for the fun run with their kids.

“I know a lot of people are getting really excited to participate in the run and be able to relax and do the chalk contest, maybe enjoy the sprinklers and the bounce slide we’ll have out here as well,” she said.

Listek said the sidewalk chalk art contest, which starts at 11 a.m. on July 2, is what really got her involved with the Yacolt community. She used to organize the event.

The contest features different age groups. Those judging the contest are not personally affiliated with the artists themselves in order to keep the friendly competition fair, she said.

The full schedule of Yacolt’s Rendezvous Days events can be found online at tinyurl.com/4jjju3h5.

People can also sign up for the Bigfoot Fun Run online at runsig nup.com/Race/WA/Yacolt/Big footFunRun.