Fish Wheel Festival

Fish wheels

are a local phenomenon; a device wherein the current of a river spins a wheel with baskets affixed to it, scooping fish out of the water while the owner watches. The Fish Wheel Festivals are a swap-meet of fish and game. It has evolved to the point of bear-roasts and bonfires, with truly heroic amounts of mead consumed.

History

These festivals began fifty years ago, when someone at the The Bardic College Campus invented it after a night of drinking absinthe.

Execution

A wheel with paddles and baskets attached to it, the wheel scoops pike and steel-head out of the river as they swim.

Components and tools

They are traditionally made of birch wood, lashed together with hemp twine.

Participants

Festivals are held every ten days during the steel head season, just after Breakup.

Observance

Just after Breakup until start of summer.

Primary Related Location

Cotnor Wilderness