Courtesy Traverse City CVB
Barnesville Potato Days
Barnesville, Minn.
Aug. 24-25
There’s no mistaking what the people in Barnesville are celebrating each August when, over two days, potatoes are picked, peeled, tossed, fried, mashed, sculpted and baked during Potato Days.
“We have over 50 different events, and half are related to potatoes,” said Olson, “from peeling, picking and mashed-potato-eating contests to a fashion show with potato socks. There’s also a mashed-potato-wrestling contest, where they actually do wrestle in mashed potatoes.”
The food court features potato pancakes, french fries, potato sausage, potato soup, German potato dumplings and lefse, a Norwegian pastry made from potatoes, flour, butter and cream.
“Almost everybody has some kind of potato dish,” said Olson.
The National Lefse Cookoff competition is a highlight of the festival.
Olson said there are plenty of other activities that appeal to all interests and members of a family or group. “We have a main stage, a complete street fair and one of the larger car shows in the area. From a demolition derby to a quilt show to a kiddy parade, we hit all the different things people like.”
The festival is spread throughout the downtown of the town of 2,200 residents.
“Everything is within walking distance, but we also have trolleys that will take you to the different areas,” said Olson. “It is a nice, small-town festival people like to go to.”
www.potatodays.com
800-525-4901
National Cherry Festival
Traverse City, Mich.
July 7-14
A “blessing of the blossoms” ceremony that started in the Grand Traverse area in the early 20th century grew into a festival in 1925. In 1926, the Hawkins Bakery in Traverse City baked a pie for the president that contained more than 5,000 cherries.
The festival expanded to three days in 1930, with President Herbert Hoover attending the opening ceremonies, and the following year the Michigan Legislature declared it a national celebration.
The National Cherry Festival, now a weeklong affair, continues to grow, with more than 150 events, among them an air show, a classic car show, turtle races, sand-sculpting contests, musical performances, parades and a grand finale fireworks.
“It began as a very agricultural-themed festival and, over time, added a lot of other stuff,” said Mike Norton, media relations director for the Traverse City Convention and Visitors Bureau. “But it’s built around cherries, obviously. This area around Traverse City produces 70 percent of the tart cherries in the country.”
There are cherry-pie-eating and -baking contests, cherry-pit-spitting contests and cherry smoothie demonstrations.
Norton said the demonstrations and contests have increased as the ways cherries are used has expanded. “Cherries and their uses have branched out over the last few years, and the festival reflects that,” he said. “There are a lot of tastings and buffets built around cherries in all kinds of different foods. They have gone away from being just in pies.”
More than a half-million people attend the festival on the shores of West Grand Traverse Bay.
www.cherryfestival.org
231-947-4230
