TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX) – Lilies in the Camas Prairie bloomed earlier than expected this year, but you might still be able to see the end of the blooming season this weekend during the annual Camas Lily Days.

One of the better places to see them is at the Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area, says Southern Idaho Tourism board member Kathy Mennenga. The marsh is about 8 miles west of Fairfield.

If you’re looking for the crowds, however, you’ll want to stop by Fairfield City Park for the festivities. Arts and crafts, vendors, and live music will be available Saturday, culminating with traditional dances on Sunday by the Shoshone-Bannock tribe. That ceremony starts at 1 p.m. The festival is free, Mennenga said, except for a breakfast Sunday morning and what the vendors sell.

Photo courtesy of Elaine Seiferman Bryant
A lily blooms recently on the Camas Prairie. (Photo courtesy of Elaine Seiferman Bryant)
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“This is a celebration of spring, a celebration of the lilies blooming,” she said, noting it also is a time to celebrate the Native Americans who first occupied the area. Tribe members would dig up the lilies’ bulbs and use them as a food source, a tradition that still happens today in the prairie.

The highlight of the celebration is the lilies. The flowers usually bloom in mid to late May and last for a couple of weeks, but this year they bloomed early in the month and are now slowly losing their colors.

“Typically we can count on them still being in bloom,” she said. “But even if the lilies aren’t blooming, there are so many different varieties of birds to see in the marsh. It’s really wet this year. It’s been a dry marsh for a while now, but this year it’s a wet marsh. It has recharged.”

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