Where truth meets theater

Vancouver, Canada

Sept. 8-18: The Vancouver Fringe Festival promises “truth, justice

1402 Anderson St., Vancouver, B.C. V6H 3R6, Canada; (604) 257-0350, www.vancouverfringe.com. Membership (required for attendance) $5; tickets $4-$12 in advance, $3-$10 at the door; Frequent Fringer Pass (10 shows), $80.

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Pendleton, Ore.

Sept. 10-17: The first Pendleton Round-Up was held in 1910, and it’s now one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious rodeos, drawing tens of thousands to the city’s Round-Up Arena. Its week of activities includes parades, concerts, barbecues, dances, the nightly Happy Canyon Native American pageant, besides such rodeo events as bareback and saddle bronc riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, racing, bull riding and -- yup -- wild-cow milking.

1205 S.W. Court, P.O. Box 609, Pendleton, OR 97801; (800) 45-RODEO (457-6336), www.pendletonroundup.com. Many events are free. Daily rodeo tickets $11-$18; Happy Canyon pageant tickets $7-$13.

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Ketchum, Idaho

Oct. 7-9: It’s the Yankee version of the running of the bulls. The Trailing of the Sheep Festival celebrates the Ketchum-Sun Valley area’s early 20th century heyday as a sheep-raising center. Oct. 7 and 8, a folk-life fair, storytelling and workshops on spinning, weaving and camp cooking are planned, along with lots of lamb on local restaurant menus. On Oct. 9, 1,700 sheep will be herded down Ketchum’s Main Street on their way from summer pastures to winter grazing areas, accompanied by musicians and dancers reflecting the area’s Basque, Scottish and Peruvian heritage. It all sounds pretty wild and very woolly.

P.O. Box 3692, Hailey, ID 83333; (800) 634-3347, www.trailingofthesheep.org. Most events free.

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San Francisco

Oct. 9: Comedy Day is a free five-hour outdoor show featuring nearly 30 performers. (Previous years have included Dana Carvey, Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams and other well-known comedians.) Food and drink are available for purchase on site. As for the humor, the website notes, “If Comedy Day were a movie ... it’d be rated PG-13.”

Sharon Meadow, Golden Gate Park; www.comedyday.com. Noon-5 p.m. Free.

-- Patricia Connell