National Cherry Festival
National Cherry Festival | |
---|---|
Begins | June 29, 2024 |
Ends | July 6, 2024 |
Frequency | Annual |
Venue | Open Space Park Downtown Traverse City |
Location(s) | Traverse City, Michigan, U.S. |
Inaugurated | 1925 |
Most recent | 2023 |
Attendance | >500,000 |
Website | www |
The National Cherry Festival is an annual food festival in Traverse City, Michigan. Traverse City has been nicknamed the "Cherry Capital of the World", as the Grand Traverse Bay region is a cherry growing hotspot.[1] The festival, which was established in 1925 as the Blessing of the Blossoms Festival, was renamed to the National Cherry Festival in 1931, and has been held each year since (with cancellations from 1942–47 and in 2020).[2][3]
History
Traverse City cherries
In 1839, Revered Peter Dougherty, a
Festival history
The very first festival was held in May 1925, and was known as the Blessing of the Blossoms. The first cherry queen was Gertrude Brown.[5] In 1931, the Michigan Legislature renamed the festival to the National Cherry Festival, and moved to July.[2] The festival was cancelled from 1942 to 1947 due to World War II.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford, a Michigan native, attended the festival, and led the Cherry Royale Parade as Grand Marshal.[6]
On July 25, 1987, Cherry Festival participants earned a place in the
In 2021, the festival garnered national attention when on July 8, a Magic Carpet ride at the festival's midway malfunctioned and began to lean and sway. Bystanders rushed to the ride and held it down by its guardrails until the ride came to a stop. No serious injuries were reported, and shortly after, the ride was dismantled.[8][9][10]
2020 postponement
In 2020, Festival Officials announced on Thursday, April 16, 2020, that the 90th National Cherry Festival was to be postponed until the following year.[11] This postponement was in light of global health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival restarted in 2021.
See also
- Cherry production in Michigan
- Cherry production in the United States
- Food festival
- Michigan wine
References
- ^ a b "History of Cherries". www.cherryfestival.org. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ a b "History of the Traverse City National Cherry Festival". MyNorth.com. July 1, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ "Annual cherry festival in Traverse City canceled for 2020". AP NEWS. April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Norton, Mike (April 15, 2014). "Exploring the Past in Historic Traverse City". Pure Michigan.
- ^ "Past Cherry Queens". National Cherry Festival. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ "Fun Facts". National Cherry Festival. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
- ^ "A Piece of the Pie". Northern Express. July 2, 2015.
- ^ Mcwhirter, Sheri (July 9, 2021). "Carnival ride malfunction shocks festival-goers; viral videos show both terror, bystanders helping". Traverse City Record-Eagle. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ "Thrill ride dismantled after appearing to malfunction during Michigan festival". NBC News. July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ Cherry festival ride malfunction captured in terrifying video | CNN, July 10, 2021, retrieved July 1, 2023
- ^ "National Cherry Festival COVID-19 Update". National Cherry Festival. April 16, 2020.