SWAN LAKE — Swan Lake, a town with a little under 250 citizens, comes together to put on their biggest event of the year for a very special local berry.
“It's just a fun small community event, one-day event, and that's the way it's been for all 40 years,” festival co-chair Lesly Olsen told MTN.
The festival has many working parts, including a pancake breakfast, live entertainment, raffles, a baking competition, and of course, creative vendors who help keep the huckleberry culture alive.
“The vendors that have such creative minds, and the things that they create to bring to our festival, we love it.”
Check out the Swan Lake Huckleberry Festival:
One of those vendors is Montana Sweet Cotton Candy, but this is not your typical cotton candy.
“We make huckleberry cotton candy special for Swan Lake,” Montana Sweet Cotton Candy Debbie Patterson said.
For one day out of the year, families can soothe their sweet tooth while participating in a community tradition.
“It's calming, it's relaxing, people just stroll in. They're not in a hurry, it's not chaotic, it's just a very relaxing place to come," Patterson says.
The event is the Swan Lake Chamber of Commerce’s only fundraiser throughout the year, making the event extra important to keep a special piece of their community alive.
“Fundraising to keep our clubhouse alive, first of all... paying the bills that way," Olsen says.
