Mackinaw Area Historic Festival

Last year's Historic Festival was held on August 4, 2012. It was a beautiful day, admission was free, and there were foot races, docents, vintage base ball, artists, story tellers, musicians and buildings and dress of the period 1880 to 1917.

Especially for the children the festival featured horse-drawn wagon rides, decorating a May Pole, and games all day.

The festival was held from 10:30 am to 4 pm at the village, located on Central Avenue about a mile and a half west of I-75 and downtown Mackinaw City. It was the society’s main event of the year and contributed to Northern Michigan’s interest as an area of historical adventure.
 

The village is a joint project of the historical society and the Village of Mackinaw City. Virtually everything within the village’s 43 acres reflects the 1880-1917 historical period. The village has been the subject of Public Television’s (WCMU-TV’s) “Destination Michigan" series.

The first annual “Pepper Foot Races” was held early in the day with a serious 5K run at 8:30 am and a one-mile “Fun Run” at 9:30 am. Fun Run participants were invited to dress in period costume, and many did!

Other highlights of the festival included:

- The seventh-annual vintage base ball game between the Mackinaw Boys and the Ludington Mariners, umpired by MAHS president Bill Marvin. All participants were in uniform, using rules of the 1880’s.
- A May Pole, with colorful streamers woven to the music of Dale Scott and Ron Fowler
- Lumberjack Demonstrations by Jack Pine Lumberjack Shows
- Dark Sky presentations by Mary Stewart Adams. The 600-acre Headlands, located on Cecil Bay directly west of Heritage Village, was designated an International Dark Sky Park last year, one of seven such parks in the United States and one of 10 in the world.
- Square Dancing with fiddlers and other period music by Blissfest performers
- Artists and Spinning
- Historic Building Tours of the one-room Freedom school house and the Pestilence House
- The official opening of the Christian Dettweiler Mennonite farmhouse
- Food by Carter’s Classic Coneys of Pellston

A special feature was an appearance by members of the 42nd Royal Highland Band of Music Bagpipers.

The day concluded with the drawing for the MAHS’s annual raffle.

The village is open to the public every day, with docents at the historical buildings from 1 pm to 5 pm Saturday through Monday through Labor Day. OnCell audio tours are available throughout the day by phoning 231-486-0003 and keying in stops 201 - 213.

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The 2011 festival, held on August 6, was a notable success, with between 450-500 people attending.  In the most anticipated event of the day, the Mackinaw Boys base ball team defeated the Ludington Mariners 11-6 in a vintage game played under the rules of 1880's.

President Bill Marvin said all programs were well attended, with the horse-drawn wagon rides an especially big hit.

"Save the first Saturday in August every year," Marvin advises everyone.

The festival, originally known as the Summer Celebration, has been the highlight of the summer activities at Heritage Village.
 
Always the first Saturday in August, this event is for local folks, tourists, summer residents and those just
“passin’ through.," and it has something for everyone!

From vintage 1880s base ball to children’s games, Native-American displays, restored historic building tours to a 1900s Soo Locks sawmill, this has been a full day of fun, education, and history.

The 2011 Festival opened at 11 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. with the drawing of the winning tickets in our yearly raffles. A lucky person  walked away with $3,000, a full stomach and a clearer understanding of what life was like between 1880 and 1917 in the Straits area. 

Festival activities included:

 Be sure to visit http://www.mackinawhistory.org/historic-festival-photos-58/  to view photos from last year's event.

Return to Home Page: http://www.mackinawhistory.org/