Entertainment

POSTED: Thursday, Apr. 26, 2007

Dirty Dan Days is good, clean fun

Weekend event celebrates Fairhaven's founding father

Pushing a piano uphill might not sound like a way to celebrate, but it's just part of the fun at Dirty Dan Days in Fairhaven.

For the past five years, the last weekend of April is set aside to honor Fairhaven's founding father, Dirty Dan Harris. The piano race up Harris Avenue is just one of the weekend's events, in addition to a slightly more traditional boat race called the Dan Harris Challenge, which will include 50 to 75 non-motorized boats.

This year, instead of having an antique fair, there will be a historical scavenger hunt and old-fashioned games Saturday, with live music all weekend.

"We're trying to involve the public more in learning the history of Fairhaven," says Stephanie Johnson, chairwoman of the Dirty Dan Days committee.

Johnson expects 800 to 1,000 people to come through the festival this year to partake in pie-eating contests and check out the 19th century costumes. Some of the weekend’s most popular events are the motorcycle and scooter show on Saturday and the Chuckanut Chowder Cook-off Sunday, featuring chowders from 15 different restaurants.

To remind people of Fairhaven's fishing past is one of the weekend's most slippery events: a salmon toss on the Village Green.

"We're just trying to pull in more of what Fairhaven was," Johnson says.

EVENT INFO

When

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. On Sunday, the Dan Harris Challenge begins at 8 a.m. and the piano races begin at 4:05 p.m.

Where

Fairhaven, mostly on the Village Green

Cost

Most activities are free. The chowder cook-off sampling is $10.

Details

676-8990. See a schedule at www.fairhaven.com.