Starting on Friday, June 19, residents in South Lewis County and beyond are invited to the annual Winlock Egg Days festival, which celebrates the city’s egg-producing history.
This year’s Winlock Egg Days theme is “EGGSTRA PATRIOTIC” to coincide with the nationwide America250 celebration marking the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday on Independence Day, July 4.
In fact, Winlock’s famous “World’s Largest Egg” even just received a new patriotic paintjob to mark the America250 celebration.
Friday, June 19
This year’s Egg Days festivities start with the Friends of the Winlock Timberland Library book sale, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday in downtown Winlock at 300 NE First St. Additionally, those planning on going are welcome to bring a non-perishible food item for the local food bank in exchange for a free book, according to a Friends of the Winlock Timberland Library Facebook post, and group members will also be holding a drawing for a special Egg Days gift basket featuring books on raising chickens and more.
Also starting at “10ish ‘til done,” a “flock of vendors” will be set up at the Winlock Miller Elementary School, located at 405 NW Benton Ave. Vendors will also be set up at the school during the same time at the school on Saturday.
Friday’s final event is the Winlock Egg Days royalty selection and coronation ceremony, starting at 7 p.m. at the Winlock Community Building, located at 607 NW Kerron Ave.
This year, three contestants are competing for the title of Egg Days queen — Dakota Fox, Kailie Lang and Georgia Sayler.
Saturday, June 20
On Saturday, June 20, Egg Days kick into high gear starting with a special Egg Days breakfast, available from 7 to 10 a.m. for $10, at the Winlock-Olequa Senior Center, located at 119 SW Kerron Ave. The breakfast includes eggs, sausage and fruit with a choice of a pancake or biscuits and gravy.
Then, at 9 a.m., the Winlock Egg Days 5K fun run will begin, with the starting point just north of the elementary school at 268 NW King Road. Registration is $30 per runner or walker, with all proceeds benefiting local student athletes.
Also from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., classic and custom cars will be on display for the Egg Days car show along East Front Street between Fir and Walnut streets, and the Rowdy Rooster Café, located at 503 NE First St. will also be open until 2 p.m. with a limited menu for breakfast and the full lunch menu.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., a beer garden will be open at the Winlock Historical Museum, located at 400 NE First St.
Then, at 10:30 a.m., the Tenino Motorcycle Drill Team kicks off the Egg Days parade, which will head north on Northeast First Street through downtown Winlock, before turning west on Fir Street and finishing at the elementary school.
After the parade, a nine-hole mini-golf course will be set up from noon to 4 p.m. inside the elementary school’s gym, with admission $5 per golfer. Inflatable Zorb Balls will also be available in the gym for people to play with.
Back at the Winlock Community Building, the Reptile Road Show from Longview will be set up with their interactive and educational exhibits, starting at 12:30 p.m.
At 1:30 p.m. also at the community building, local children’s entertainer and balloon artist Mr. Twister will be performing a free magic show starting, though donations are welcome. Additionally, Mr. Twister will be bouncing back and forth between the community building and elementary school making balloon animals throughout the day.
Afternoon Egg Days events wrap up in Winlock with a performance by the American Legion Band, starting at 3 p.m. inside the community building.
Winlock Egg Days are organized by members of the Winlock Lions Club and the Egg Day Committee along with other community volunteers, headed by the committee’s 2026 CEO (Chief Egg Officer) Lesa Givens.
Egg Days history
As for the history behind the event, it all began just over a century ago. Given the city’s prime location between Portland and Seattle, Winlock chicken farmers joined the Washington Co-operative Egg & Poultry Association in 1921 and constructed their own co-op egg processing building, which still stands in downtown Winlock today.
The new egg processing building helped the city secure the title of the “Egg and Poultry Capital of the World.” The first “Poultry and Egg Day” was held to celebrate their success according to the Friday, Aug. 5, 1921 edition of The Chronicle.
“Final plans have been completed for a celebration in Winlock on Aug. 13th marking the opening of the Winlock-Cowlitz-Toledo Highway. The event will be called ‘Poultry and Egg Day’ in honor of Winlock’s biggest industry,” The Chronicle stated.
Over the next decade and a half and through the Great Depression, festival interest and attendance waned until organizers led efforts to revive it in 1937, coinciding with completion of a new addition to the Washington Co-operative Egg & Poultry Association’s building according to the Thursday, July 22, 1937, edition of The Chronicle. An estimated 800 people were in attendance for the new addition’s dedication, and the festival was revived and scheduled for August with its name shortened to “Egg Day.”
“Winlock, in southern Lewis County, expected to be host to a large crowd of visitors today on the occasion of the city’s annual Egg Day celebration. Miss Olive Washburn, selected by employees of the Washington Co-operative Egg & Poultry Association, was ruling over the fete as queen. She and her attendants were to have a prominent place in a parade, opening event on the day’s program, and was later to preside during a program on the Winlock school grounds,” according to the Saturday, Aug. 21, 1937, edition of The Chronicle.
In addition to the parade in 1937, Lewis County Commissioner Guy M. Balfour also spoke, free egg sandwiches were served, a baseball game between the Toledo and Ryderwood Timber League teams was played, and local farmers and businessmen competed against each other in a tug-of-war competition.
Winlock Egg Days has been held annually ever since, with the exception of a few years during World War II.
For more information, visit the festival’s website at https://www.winlockeggdays.com/, or read the souvenir program available online at https://tinyurl.com/4td3jcpk.
