There’s a moment every August in Pullman, Washington, when the whole city just lets itself get, well, a little weird.
A mascot named Tase T. Lentil leads a parade down Main Street. Washington State University’s (WSU) marching band follows close behind. Somewhere in the crowd, a first grader is getting their face painted, a local microbrewer is pouring something cold and foamy and thousands of people are lining up to eagerly eat free lentil chili. This is the Pullman National Lentil Festival. It’s been Pullman’s signature celebration since 1989.
And we wouldn’t miss it for the world.
A festival born from pride in the Palouse
The story of the National Lentil Festival starts, like so many good ideas, with a problem. Before 1989, Pullman hosted a Harvest Festival every fall, but so did about 3,000 towns across the country. Community leaders wanted something that was distinctly Pullman. Fortunately, the answer was right under their feet—literally.
The Palouse region of eastern Washington and Northern Idaho was producing the vast majority of the nation’s lentil crop, making it one of the most significant lentil-growing regions in the world. So why not celebrate that? Why not make lentils the star?
More than three decades later, the festival draws an average of 10,000 visitors annually, which is a pretty big number for a city of Pullman’s size, and has become one of eastern Washington’s most beloved events. It marks the unofficial start of fall, welcoming new WSU freshmen to campus life while reuniting longtime Pullman residents who come back year after year.
A day that has everything
Part of what makes the National Lentil Festival so endearing is how much it packs into a single day. The morning starts early with the Tase T. Lentil 5K run winding through Pullman neighborhoods and the WSU campus. Sports tournaments like pickleball, tennis, basketball and softball run through the afternoon. There’s live music on the main stage, food and artisan vendors, a kids' science tent, cooking demonstrations and a beer and wine garden.
And then, as the sun starts to set, comes the moment everyone’s been waiting for: the chili.
WSU catering spends the day preparing hundreds of gallons of locally sourced lentil chili, a recipe that earned Pullman a Guiness World Record for the largest bowl of lentil chili in the 1990s. At 5:00 p.m., it’s served for free. Every bowl of it. We’re talking about thousands of bowls. And leftovers don’t go to waste. They’re donated to local food shelters, which feels exactly right for a community that takes care of its own.
What it means to Pullman
The National Lentil Festival has always been about more than lentils. It’s a homecoming. A welcome. A celebration of the agricultural identity that defines this corner of the Northwest.
“I’m honored to serve alongside Ziply Fiber’s operation team at the Pullman National Lentil Festival. Their partnership and investment demonstrate a deep commitment to our community.”—Francis Benjamin, Mayor of Pullman
“Visit Pullman looks forward to continuing our collaboration with partners like Ziply Fiber to grow the National Lentil Festival and drive more tourism and economic activity to Pullman and the Palouse.”—JJ Martin, Pullman Tourism and Promotions Director
That sense of belonging runs especially deep for the thousands of WSU students who arrive in Pullman each August for the first time. For many of them, the National Lentil Festival is their very first Pullman experience; a chaotic, fun, slightly surreal introduction to a community that knows how to welcome people.
Why Ziply Fiber keeps showing up
We’ll be honest: When we first got involved with the National Lentil Festival, we weren’t entirely sure what we were signing up for. A mascot named after a legume? A parade where the main attraction is a giant pot of chili?
Yes! Absolutely!
Ziply Fiber has been a proud sponsor of the National Lentil Festival for several years—we’re now also a presenting sponsor—and we don’t just show up with a check and a banner. We decorate the trailer that carries the legendary chili bowl into town; we do the actual towing with one of our bucket trucks, and when the last serving is ladled out and the crowds head home, we’re the ones rolling up our sleeves to wash the bowl out. Because here’s what the Pullman National Lentil Festival is, underneath the pageantry: It’s neighbors showing up for neighbors. It’s an entire city deciding that something local and, yes, a little strange, is worth celebrating loudly and together. And besides, someone has to clean the bowl.
That’s something we believe in. Our job is to keep communities connected, not just with fast, reliable fiber internet, but with the kind of infrastructure that helps people and businesses thrive where they already are. Pullman is a place worth investing in. The National Lentil Festival reminds us exactly why.
We’ll see you in August.
