TOPPENISH — This year’s Mural In A Day will mark the 20th anniversary of the event, and will break with tradition to provide two days of festivities, June 5 and 6.
Mural-In-A-Day began in 1989, with the painting of “Clearing the Land,” a 14X40-foot mural in the downtown core.
Each years since then, on the first Saturday in June, a new mural goes up.
This year, the mural will be painted on the south side of the new Toppenish Visitor Center, at 504 S. Elm St.
Susan Treneer, executive director of the Mural Society and the Chamber of Commerce, said the mural will be “transportation related,” but the exact subject matter hasn’t been revealed yet.
The extra day of this year’s event will be put to good use, with a variety of special events and activities, according to Susan Treneer, executive director of the Mural Society and the Chamber of Commerce.
MIAD begins Friday, June 5, and lead artist Roger Cooke will begin preparation of the paints and “cartooning” the mural concept on the visitor center wall, sometime after 6 p.m.
A beer garden will be set up in Post Office Park during the afternoon and evening.
On Saturday, June 6, about a dozen artists will join Cooke in an effort to complete the painting before dinner time, Treneer said.
In the meantime Toppenish will host a mural-in-a-day treasure hunt. Everyone who finds all the murals-in-a-day and gets their “passport” stamped will be entered in a drawing for a great prize courtesy of a local Toppenish merchant.
Also of interest on the same weekend will be the Treaty Days parade at the Yakama Nation Cultural Center at 10 a.m., and the Annual Treaty Days All-Indian Rodeo will be going on in the neighboring town of White Swan.
All the Toppenish murals can be viewed at a leisurely, horse-drawn pace with a mural tour, which will be in full swing by then.
Visitors may also enjoy a tour of the Northern Pacific Railway Museum and the American Hop Museum, which is the only one in the U.S.
More information is available at www.toppenish.net or by calling 800-863-6375.
Friday, June 5,
10 a.m. – noon, Treaty Days Parade, Yakama Nation Cultural Center.
Noon – 4 p.m., mural tours, take a tour in a horse-drawn covered wagon.
3 – 6 p.m., Happy Hour in Post Office Park, local wines and micro brews from Masset, Hyatt, Eaton Hill, and Knight Hill Wineries, plus Horse Heaven Hills Brewery. Live music.
6 – 9 p.m., Lions’ Club Steak Feed and Beer Garden in Pioneer Park; lead artist mural preparations.

Saturday, June 6
7 – 9 a.m. Lions Club Pancake Breakfast.
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Car Show at Pioneer Park hosted by the Iron Angels.
9 – 5 p.m. Mural painting, live music and entertainment, Mural-in-a-Day treasure hunt and raffle, vendors.
6- 9 p.m. Wine and micro brews in Post Office Park, Masset, Hyatt, Eaton Hill & Knight Hill wineries, plus Horse Heaven Hills Brewery.