Crawdad Festival to return to Culver 

Published 1:25 pm Friday, August 1, 2025

The annual parade and celebration will be held this month with vendors, entertainment and crawdads. 

Grab your bibs and your friends because Culver’s Crawdad Festival is returning this month. 

The city’s annual Crawdad Festival will be held between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. in Culver Veteran’s Memorial Park on Saturday, Aug. 16. Kristi Saulsbury, entertainment coordinator for the festival, said celebrations will include a parade, a range of vendors, live entertainment and more. 

Saulsbury said the festival will include 57 vendors selling everything from soaps to handmade crafts, and seven food trucks with corn dogs and tacos for those who may not be interested in crawdads. The parade will kick off at 10 a.m., running along 1st Avenue between City Hall and Shell station, and featuring farm implements, old cars and local businesses among others. 

According to a social media post, Red Beard Barbecue will serve food for the crawdad boil, including crawdads, shrimp, potatoes, smoked sausages and corn and the cob. Tickets for the crawdad boil can be pre-purchased online at $25 for a half pound and $40 for a full pound. 

“It’s a blast. It’s a great community event, and there’s something to do for every age,” Saulsbury said. “The food’s good, the entertainment’s good … for a little town, we do it pretty well.” 

Festivities will also include a raffle awarding prizes such as a party barge and air show tickets, with half of the money going to an undetermined local organization, Saulsbury said. Continuing a feature added last year, rubber crawdads will be hidden around town and can be brought to the city booth for a prize opportunity. 

Attendees will be able to enjoy live music from two bands, including central Oregon band The Dust Devils from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. — a returning band that Saulsbury said received good feedback at last year’s festival. Portland-based blues band Thomas T. & the Blue Chips will perform between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Notably, Saulsbury said parking will be more challenging this year due to construction related to a new skatepark, pickleball courts and more park additions. She said event organizers will have parking available across the street for attendees to account for lost parking spaces. 

“We’re trying to accommodate the best we can,” Saulsbury said. 

According to Saulsbury, the Crawdad Festival is one of two major celebrations in Culver, with the other occurring at Christmas. 

“It’s just one of two opportunities for the community to come out and enjoy our little town, and take in some fun,” Saulsbury said.