Turkey Diary #4.5: The Zucchinis Have Been Explained
I went. I watched.
I can confirm that wheels are, in fact, attached to vegetables.
The Golden City Days Zucchini Grand Prix turned out to be exactly the kind of thing I hoped it would be: homemade zucchini race cars hurtling down a ramp, children taking the whole business very seriously, and a crowd cheering them on.
Mystery solved.
Unfortunately, I’m now thinking I might have to enter next year.
And apparently there is no shortage of other small-town West Kootenay oddities for me to investigate.
There’s the Tiny Lights Festival in the tiny town of Ymir. Surely being 4'9" finally qualifies me for some kind of tiny advantage.
Then there’s the Hills Garlic Festival. I’m already wondering about garlic toast. Garlic ice cream, apparently, exists. Mike can investigate that one.
And somewhere between New Denver and Kaslo is a stretch of road called the Valley of the Ghosts.
Obviously I need to know more.
I’m starting to think this might be one of the best things about living here: drive an hour or two in almost any direction and eventually somebody will be racing a vegetable, celebrating garlic, hosting a festival of tiny lights, or naming an entire valley after ghosts.
I seem to have found myself a growing list of West Kootenay things that require further investigation.
And I’m thinking we may need to lean a little further into the absurdity at the next Turkey Jam.
Golden City Days ran September 11–13, 2026.
Rossland, however, appears to have no intention of calming down.
Next weekend is the Rossland Arts & Culture Festival at the Museum; Mike will be playing with Sue’s Blues on Saturday at 2:50 p.m. There’s also RED Teeth, the mountain wine festival at RED, and the Grey Ghost Pursuit gravel race. More ghosts.
The Wild Turkey Inn is three blocks from downtown Rossland and available either as your own private three-bedroom Victorian guesthouse, or as a private one-room stay with the guest kitchen, dining and sitting spaces all to yourself.
Book directly for two nights or more during eligible non-winter dates and use KOOTENAY10 to save 10%.
Sometimes the best little adventures are waiting in the next town over.
