Get your howl on for annual CoyoteFest

A howling good time is just around the corner.

The 40th annual CoyoteFest, the signature event of the year in Coulterville, is all set to go on Saturday, Sept. 26.

“This is good, old fashioned, colorful, silly fun,” said MaryAnn Huff, one of the organizers of the event.

CoyoteFest is the main fundraiser for the Northern Mariposa County History Center, said Huff, and it helps in continuing the operation of the museum.

Things kickoff on Saturday morning with a parade at 10 a.m.

All of the vendors, including artisans and food booths, also open at 10.

A car show is also on tap, as it is every year. Huff encouraged people to pre-register for the car show, saying an area auto supplier includes a bucket of goodies for the first 30 who register.

She expects 40 to 50 classic cars to be on display on Main Street. Some participate in the parade, as well.

Registration for the car show and the parade is at www.coyotefest.org

The festival goes until 5 p.m. and throughout the day, there are many things to do for both the young and old.

A Kids Korner features slides, a bouncy house and more and is located on the basketball court at the park.

Again this year, the Mariposa County Chamber of Commerce will be having a margarita booth that also includes beer and wine.

The history center will be having a silent auction until 4 p.m. as well as a “Get Rich Quick” Raffle at 5 p.m.

That name comes from the Gold Rush era, said Huff, and amounts to people putting in cash and then the winner gets half with the rest going to the museum.

The big event

Of course, CoyoteFest would not even be an event without the nearly world famous Coyote Howl.

“It’s serious business around here,” said Huff. “You can hear the howling all around town.”

There are various age categories for the howlers, as well as a “group howl” category.

Huff said there is prize money that will be distributed, based on the number of entries. She also said a local donor annually gives money for second and third place prizes.

“It has become kind of a thing where people paint their faces and put on tails,” she noted.

Anyone who has attended the festival knows just how seriously people take their howling and Huff said some practice all year around hoping for a win on the big day.

“Some of the adults get pretty interesting,” she chuckled.

The howling contest takes place from 1-2:30 p.m. at the park.

At 2:45 p.m., Aaron Burnham & the Brushfires will take the stage and perform until 5.

Huff said before the band, a DJ will keep the audience entertained throughout the day, including during the howling event.

The history

Huff said this is a big year for the festival because it marks 40 years of CoyoteFest in Coulterville.

It began, she said, with “some gals in Coulterville who started it years ago. They started the howl contest and got sponsors.”

From there, various groups took over the event and then eventually, it was the history center which took the lead and it turned into a major fundraiser for that organization.

The festival continues to attract people from all over, said Huff. Last year, she said a group from Los Angeles came and “swore they were going to come back this year because they had so much fun.”

There are also people from the Bay Area who come as well as the Central Valley.

Huff said people from Mariposa also attend annually and she encourages everyone to come to Coulterville and give it a try. As she noted, the chamber and Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau both are major contributors to the event.

A good time

For Huff, the entire point of the event is for people to gather, visit and have a “howling” good time.

Eddie the UPS Guy, a local celebrity who recently retired from driving the brown truck, will serve as the grand marshal of the parade. She noted he always participates and has a classic car, plays music and “is a howler.”

She also pointed out there will be “Coulterville Ubers,” at the festival. In other words, side by sides to take people to various locations around the festival.

Overall, Huff said the event is a truly rural California gathering of great people and she summed it up with two words: “Home spun.”