Tourist Information for Leavenworth, WA

Independence Day Fireworks

Will you be in Leavenworth for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend? There’s lots to see and do in the Leavenworth area beginning with Independence Day on Thursday and right on through the weekend. The current heat advisories will expire on Wednesday, bringing in cooler temperatures (lower 90’s instead of 100’s) just in time for great family celebrations. Here’s a sampling of the weekend to come.

July 4:

Kinderfest 2013 on July 4th is an old-fashioned 4th of July party with old-fashioned games, food, and activities for the whole family in downtown Leavenworth WA. A kiddie bike parade at 11am, face painting, arts and crafts, live music at the Gazebo and fun, fun fun! Check the website at the link for more information and a schedule.

Book signing: A Book for All Seasons, Leavenworth’s independent bookseller, is celebrating Kinderfest by welcoming author Bonnie Becker, author of a number of children’s picture books and middle-school novels. Join Bonnie at the bookstore from 1-3pm.

Public Fireworks Displays: While Leavenworth itself doesn’t host a fireworks display (way too close to the Okanogan-Wenatchee Nat’l Forest) there are several displays within easy driving distance.

A great way to see the Wenatchee fireworks show is to book a reservation with Osprey Rafting Company hosts a Fourth of July Float Trip. Their float trip includes a beach BBQ (including smores!), followed by a raft float trip down the Wenatchee River to the Columbia, where you’ll have the very best view of the fireworks display. Seating is limited!

Friday July 5:

Bicultural Fest (Fiesta Bicultural) 1-9pm at Icicle Center for the Arts. A family event featuring nature walks, food and music. There’s also a Naturalization Ceremony. Check out their website for a calendar of events. It’s free and open to the public.

Snowy Owl Theater at Icicle Center for the Arts welcomes Pulitzer nominated author Luis Alberto Urrea, for a presentation and book signing at 7:30pm. His book, Into the Beautiful North, was a recent regional read.

Leavenworth Summer Theater: Sound of Music opens on Friday July 5, at 8pm. For the 19th year in a row, the hills are alive! The Leavenworth Ski Hill Amphitheater is the venue for this perennial, family favorite. Call the box office to purchase tickets. These shows sell out!

Saturday July 6:

Lions Club Community Breakfast All-you-can-eat pancakes, sausages, eggs, milk/coffee. 7-11am in Lions Club Park. The cost is $6 for adults, $3 for kids, 3-10. Under 3 years old is free. Military personnel with ID eat for free! This is a great community event and visitors are more than welcome. This is a twice monthly (and more) fundraising event for Lions Club of Leavenworth. They support projects involving sight, hearing and diabetes health issues, local food banks, high school senior scholarships, Scouts, youth baseball, Special Olympics & other community projects.

Nutcracker Day Open House: The world famous Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum will be open all day, 11am-5pm, with free admission. Learn more about nutcrackers, the art and science of opening nuts, take a crack at opening hazelnuts with a variety of crackers, go on a nutcracker hunt and have your photo taken with Karl, the giant nutcracker.

For live music at various venues around the village, please check our Bands and Live Music page. We add the live music as soon as it becomes available. For more ideas for your trip to Leavenworth, check our Summer Fun, Sports and Recreation and Family Fun pages.

In Leavenworth, Washington for the weekend? Take a look at some of the events and activities for April 20-22, 2012.

Among Penguins: A Birdman in Antarctica Friday, April 20, 7pm. In the Barn at Barn Beach Reserve. A lively slide-show by Oregon birder and author, 26 year old Noah Strycker.

Leavenworth Ale-Fest Saturday, April 21, 2-10pm. Leavenworth Fest Halle. Beer tasting with beers from 20 micro-breweries. $25 admission at the door. Admission is free for active duty military. 21 and over only. Benefiting the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum. “An Ale of a Party!”

Weddings and Wine Open House Saturday, April 21, 11am. Silvara Vineyard. Visit Silvara along with select wedding professionals from the Upper Wenatchee Valley. Door prizes all day.

Brazil and Beyond Saturday, April 21, 7:30pm, $10. Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. Enchanting Brazilian music and more from the duo, Hilary Field and Gwen Franz.

Earth Day Fair Sunday, April 22, noon-4pm at Lions Club Park. “Many Hands, Many Voices, One Community.” Music, food, Health Fair, Farmers Market Showcase, booths and displays, and hands-on activities.

Live music this weekend at:
Andreas Keller
King Ludwigs
SOUTH
Alley Cafe
Tumwater Inn
Icicle Brewing Co

Leavenworth, Washington

I love reading blogs! I subscribe to a wide variety of blogs, in subjects ranging from writing, to blogging, recipes, travel and theology. I read blog posts everyday from the Pacific NW, the West Coast, all over the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. And doesn’t count posts from blogs like Lonely Planet, which come from all across the globe.

Some of my favorite bloggers I discovered because they wrote about Leavenworth, Washington. Scotte has a Google Alert set notifying him of any new news item from, or about, Leavenworth. He passes along blog posts he knows I’ll find interesting. If the blog post is particularly entertaining, intriguing or well-written, I’m likely to subscribe to their blog feed.

On my iPad, I use the app, FeeddlerRSS. This app allows me to follow all of my subscriptions in one place, syncing with Google Reader, and all RSS subscriptions. On my iPhone I use the MobileRSS free app. The two apps sync together so I only have to add my subscriptions to one.

Here are some of my favorite blogs. Some are Leavenworth area specific, but most are cover a variety of subjects and came to my attention because they wrote about Leavenworth at least once.

Cakespy. I know I’m coming late to the dessert buffet with this one. Writer and illustrator, Jessie Oleson is based in Seattle and has written on sweet goodness available in bakeries and sweet shops from all over. Cakespy.com describes the mission better than I can: “Cakespy.com is a Dessert Detective Agency dedicated to seeking sweetness (literally) in everyday life. We do this by writing about bakeries, conducting baking experiments, and picking the brains of bakers and food artists, and finding awesome products for lovers of baked goods.” The site is filled with whimsical artwork, and a link to coloring pages drawn by Jessie O for Taste of Home Magazine. Two recent posts at Cakespy caught my attention: Via Delicious, Via Dolce Gelato, Leavenworth, WA; and Sweet Sandwich, Bavarian Waffle from The Danish Bakery, Leavenworth, WA. Be sure you check out the link to Cakespy’s upcoming book, CakeSpy Presents: Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life.
Thanks, Cakespy for visiting and writing about Leavenworth!

Willkommen in Leavenworth

Northwest Cheapsleeps-favorite places for budget travelers. Love travel and like it cheap, cheap, cheap? So does Lauren, a midwesterner transplanted to the Pacific NW. Follow her to get cheap travel tips. You’ll find campground ideas, hostel and motel reviews, restaurant and farmer market reviews, and itineraries for inexpensive weekend travel. Cheapsleeps found me on Twitter. So, I started following her blog.

Sometimes I find interesting articles and posts in unlikely places. This post, The Restaurant Business That Changed the World, on the Restaurant Marketing Ideas Blog, gives a really good thumbnail history of Leavenworth from a different perspective.

Looking for blogs especially about Leavenworth? Check out the blog at Icicle Creek Real Estate for Leavenworth real estate news and information. Whether you’re buying or selling or simply curious about the possibility of relocating to the Leavenworth vicinity, Geordie and Allyson’s blog will give you all sorts of information including upcoming events in Leavenworth.

At this blog and on the rest of the website we work to give you this most up-to-date and complete information about what’s happening in Leavenworth and the surrounding area. If you have suggestions that would make Accidental Bavarian and this blog more helpful please let us know. You can leave a comment or send an email to info@accidentalbavarian.com.

Update:
The Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce recently sent out a schedule update about the movie, Ira Finkelstein’s Christmas Vacation, due to begin shooting in Leavenworth in the next few weeks.

Shooting is now scheduled to begin around March 1, 2011, with the Christmas parade due to be filmed March 3rd, from 8am-1pm. The production company is looking for around 200 townspeople (and visitors!) to act as parade spectators. The route will begin at the Munchen Haus, travel west on Front St., turn right on 9th, right on Commercial and right on 8th. The process is expected to be repeated a total of 4 times.

Chamber members and business owners are doing their part by not shoveling or removing snow if it falls on March 2nd or 3rd. Snow making equipment will be in town on March 2 to help with the Christmas look the film needs.

As with all movie-making, schedules will be subject to change. If your plans to visit Leavenworth include March 3rd why not be a part of making Leavenworth movie magic?

Leavenworth Christmas Movie Magic: (original post)

If it seems as though the Christmas season is dragging on a bit in Leavenworth this year, it’s not just you. The city and the businesses along Front Street are leaving their decorations and lights up a little longer than usual. And for very good reason. The Seattle movie production company, Von Piglet Productions will arrive in the village in the next few days. A feature film set in Leavenworth, Ira Finkelstein’s Christmas Vacation, is set to begin shooting around February 21.

The movie is the story of a young Jewish boy who so badly wants to celebrate Christmas that he travels to “Christmastown, Washington.” Front Street, Front Street Park and Gazebo and the Sledding Hill should all feature prominently.

The story was originally set in Vermont, but after the production company scouted in Leavenworth, the decision was made to change the setting to Leavenworth. There will be about 2 weeks of shooting in the Upper Wenatchee Valley. Pangborn Memorial Airport in Wenatchee will also be used as a location.

The highlight of the shooting for locals should be a full Christmas parade tentatively scheduled for February 23. The director, Sue Corcoran, and her production team, will be looking for lots of extras for the parade scene, including Christmas characters, groups like the handbell choir and many spectators and on-lookers. Having worked on several movies myself, I can offer some advice for extras: Wear comfortable shoes or boots, dress in layers and expect to do some waiting. Movie work can be a lot of fun, especially when you go into it prepared.

Read more about Ira Finkelstein’s Christmas Vacation in The Leavenworth Echo and The Wenatchee World. Also check out Geordie Romer’s Blog over at Icicle Creek Realty for information on the movie and other stuff happening in the greater Leavenworth area.