SHELLEY — The Idaho Annual Spud Day returns to Shelley this Saturday, Sept. 16, with a day full of potato-themed activities planned starting at 7 a.m.

Every year on the third Saturday of September, Idahoans gather to honor the state’s prized root vegetable — the potato — in a daylong celebration where there’s no shortage of entertainment and tradition. This is Spud Day’s 96th year.

Rori Christensen, chairperson of Idaho Spud Day, said Spud Day never gets old, and for many locals the event is “as traditional as Thanksgiving or Christmas.”

“There’s always such a buzz of excitement in the air before Spud Day,” Christensen said. “Shelley seems to be an iconic area for endurance, tradition and camaraderie. It’s just really such a great area and the celebration is always looked forward to.”

The festivities start in the week leading up to Spud Day, with the Miss Sweet Potato, Miss Radiant and Miss Russet pageants. This year’s Miss Radiant is Jaynie Heyrend. The Miss Radiant pageant highlights and celebrates girls with special needs.

The pageants are a staple of Spud Day, but there’s also a Street Festival on Friday at Highway 91 and Pine Street, which Christensen said was formerly a street dance.

Saturday will begin with the Spud Run at 7 a.m. at Sunrise Elementary School. The Shelley-Firth QRU (Quick Response Unit) annual fundraising breakfast also will be hosted in the morning at the Senior Citizens Center from 7 to 10 a.m.

Other scheduled events include a parade, a car show, a lip-sync contest, a corn hole tournament, a baking contest, a potato picking contest, a French fry eating contest, potato sack races and the famous spud tug at Shelley City Park. The event’s website, idahospudday.com, has a full list of the day’s activities and other information.

“Last year, the county told me that we had over 30,000 people in attendance, so I am hoping for that many people or more this year,” Christensen said. “My hope is that this event will keep growing. It’s not just like a little day long county fair. It’s much bigger than that. It holds the traditions of this area.”