All-Year Calendar

Friday, October 16, 2026

Long before ski lifts climbed the Selkirks, timber built the towns below Schweitzer. The forests around Lake Pend Oreille held prized western white pine and cedar, and once the railroads arrived, that green wealth drew loggers, mill hands, and whole new communities to Bonner County. Sandpoint grew from about 300 people in 1900 to roughly 3,000 by 1906 and about 5,000 by 1908, and boosters of the day claimed it shipped more cedar poles than any other city in the United States.

Did you know the very first snow of the season can set a deadline? Schweitzer Mountain Resort is celebrating the first flakes that fell over the mountain this past weekend with its First Flakes Lodging Flash Sale, and today, Wednesday, October 14, is the last day to book it. The resort is offering 20 percent off winter lodging for stays from November 27, 2026 through April 11, 2027, with a two-night minimum, at properties including the Humbird, Selkirk Lodge, White Pine Lodge and 5 Needles.

Did you know some of the best ski days at Schweitzer this winter can be free for kids? Registration is now open in October for the Ski Idaho Peak Season Passport for 2026-27, which gives fifth graders three free ski or ride days and sixth graders two free days at each of 18 participating Idaho resorts, including Schweitzer. The passport is open to kids from any state or country, and the processing fee is 29 dollars for families who sign up before December 20, rising to 49 dollars after that date, so this month is the smart time to register at Skiidaho.us.

Before the holiday rush, Sandpoint's late-November and December calendar is already taking shape — and it's full of the small-town traditions that make the season here special.

The Festival of Trees returns on Saturday, November 28, with its Charity and Cheer Window Walk — a community fundraiser whose decorated windows light up downtown. Friends and Family Day at The Hive on November 28 brings photos with Santa, cookies and cocoa, Christmas crafts, a fourth-grade gingerbread competition, and the first public viewing of this year's festival trees.

Sandpoint is getting its own film festival. The first annual Sandpoint Idaho Film Fest runs October 17-24 — a week of independent cinema across eleven categories, including documentary, animation, action sports, and locally made narrative work, competing for eighteen awards.

The week opens October 17 with a free Film Crawl starting at Matchwood, followed by a Local Idaho Filmmaker Showcase at the Little Panida Theater on October 18. October 19 brings a Sandpoint Cinema takeover in Ponderay, and October 20 goes dark with R-Night, an evening of dark films at Idaho Pour Authority.

Good Sunday morning from the hill above Schweitzer. If you are waking up with us at The Village Overlook, take a look outside first, because winter is knocking on the mountain's door. Snow showers are dusting the upper elevations this morning at 32 degrees, feeling closer to 21 in the wind. The KOTX radar map shows a real fall front sweeping through, with widespread precipitation echoes stretching from Colville and Spokane through Coeur d'Alene and right over Sandpoint. Down in town it is raining, 44 degrees, with northeast gusts up to 37 miles per hour.

Happy Friday from the hill above the village. If you have been waiting for the perfect fall weekend in Sandpoint, this one might be it.