This Saturday is National Public Lands Day, as well as WSU’s 3rd Annual Palouse Outdoor Festival.

The event is hosted by the Outdoor Recreation Center (ORC) in partnership with University of Idaho’s Outdoor Program, the Center for Civic Engagement and several other local businesses, according to the event’s website. The festival is intended to bring together those living across the Palouse to enjoy fun activities outdoors and gain a greater appreciation for the environment.

Attendees will be able to try activities such as rock climbing and stand up paddle boarding, participate in clinics such as Standing Up (SUP) yoga and backcountry cooking, and beautify parts of Granite Point and Wawawai County Park.

Additional events include slacklining, a kayak tour, fly fishing, rock climbing and a “Leave No Trace” awareness hike. Most events last between one and two hours, and are staggered throughout the day.

Callie Metzner, ORC program coordinator, said two aspects of the event that stood out to her the most were the kayak tours and rock climbing.

 “One of the biggest things is to get people into the outdoors and try different activities that they haven’t tried before and then also exposing them to different vendors,” Metzner said, “whether that’s the ORC or other local vendors, who all are going to be out there.”

The Palouse Outdoor Festival is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Wawawai County Park. Shuttles will leave the ORC lobby at 9 a.m. for a $5 fee and registration begins at 9:30 a.m. 

Food will not be provided at the event, but attendees are encouraged to pack their own food and be accountable for their role in preserving the planet.