Things to do / Travel Guide
This diverse region is full of activities throughout the year that celebrate the season's best. Northern Michigan region's calendar has a busy roster of events the entire family can enjoy. Below are listed, month by month, some of the best festivals and events around northern Michigan.
January
The Winter Carnival in Houghton, at the Michigan Tech University in the Upper Peninsula, features elaborate snow sculptures.
February
The annual Tawas City Perch Festival on the Lake Huron shore in Tawas City is a logical choice for ice fishing fans.
The Upper Peninsula 200 Dog Sled Race is held in mid-February and draws a crowd of about 30,000. The race begins and ends in Marquette but circles through Escanaba on Lake Michigan. This is one of the Upper Peninsula's most popular spectator events.
May
For the Memorial Day Weekend Fort Michilimackinac Pageant head to Colonial Michilimackinac, a reconstructed 1715 French fur-trading village and military outpost. This is the nation's longest-running free Memorial Day performance. Seek out the hawk, knife throw, and muzzleloader demonstrations.
June
At the Leland Wine and Food Festival you'll savor the best wines from 15 of Michigan's finest wineries and taste treats from 10 of Leelanau County's culinary experts. Enjoy jazz, delectable treats, and fine wine in a day-long celebration. Tickets are usually about $10 and include a gift and several wine tickets.
Nearly 3,000 classic and antique cars, hot rods, custom vehicles, and pickups zoom into town for the St. Ignace Car Show. The event also features a Down Memory Lane Parade.
The Interlochen Summer Arts Festival takes place every year between June and August in the Grand Traverse area and is one of the largest art presenters in the United States. Visitors can enjoy more than 600 music, drama, and dance events, which range from classic to popular, and religious to secular.
July
For a dazzling spectacle of more than 150 cherry-related events, don't miss the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City. Sample local cherry delights: jam, salsa, fresh-picked and dried fruit, and chocolate-covered cherries. Admission is charged for some events, but not all.
The Bacardi Bayview Mackinac Race at Port Huron is the world's largest freshwater sporting event: 300 yachts sail from Port Huron and cover 265 nautical miles on Lake Huron to finish at Mackinac Island. Before the race, get a close look at the armada, when the boats are docked downtown.
August
The Traverse City Film Festival is the biggest film festival in the Midwest. Current films are shown at three indoor movie houses, and classic movies are free of charge on a giant, inflatable outdoor screen overlooking Grand Traverse Bay at the Open Space Park.
The Paradise Wild Blueberry Festival in the Upper Peninsula features a blueberry brunch, a blueberry-pie-eating contest for kids and a taste-test of every blueberry recipe available: blueberry pie, buckle, and muffins.
September
At the Mackinac Bridge Walk, approximately 50,000 people walk from St. Ignace across the five-mile suspension bridge to Mackinaw City. It is a once-a-year opportunity to cross one of the world's largest suspension bridges on foot (no walking allowed the rest of the year).
October
At the Pumpkin Festival in Bessemer (Upper Peninsula), you can try your hand at the pumpkin-carving and seed-spitting contests and eat your fill of pumpkin at the pie social. Pumpkin growers try to beat the record 256-pound pumpkin. Admission is charged for some events.
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