Category: Festivals

Metamora, Michigan, it’s a small town in Lapeer County.  One time a year the town grows exponentially for a couple days.  This is because of their Metamora Country Days and Hot Air Balloon Festival that takes place every August.  This festival has a whole lot more than just hot air balloons going on. However, that is the main reason that I have been going back year after year.  The second reason is for the fish dinners that the Metamora Lions put on. They also offer more to eat than just the fried fish dinners, but that is my favorite.

Let me tell you about how I started out going to this awesome festival so many years ago.  I was living in Metamora and as with many small towns, if there’s a festival going on in town, that’s where you want to be.  The festival takes place the 4th weekend in August and when I was walking in the Crim Festival of Races in Flint, Michigan it would conflict for the parade on Saturday and how late I stayed at the festival on Friday.  Most years that I was not in Flint for the races I was at the parade and I was taking pictures of the Elf Khurafeh Shriners’ Motorcycle Drill Team while they were driving in the parade. This was an easier parade to do that with, but I’ll cover that in another post.

So, what all do you do at a country days & hot air balloon festival?  Well, aside from the obvious there are a lot of things to do. There are the truck and tractor pulls out behind the Lions hall, where you should bring your ear plugs to sit and watch them.  For those that like a little bit of adventure, there are monster truck and helicopter rides. Of course, there are bouncy activities for the little kids. Inside the Lions Hall there is an arts & crafts show, be sure to pick up some locally made maple syrup from Elling Tree Farm out of Elba.  In the area covered area outside the Lions Hall is where the food is and places to sit and eat. Also, I can’t forget the chicken poop fundraiser. This is where they have a chicken pen that the bottom is sectioned off like a bingo card with just numbers on it. They sell spots to patrons and once all the spots are sold they place the chicken in the pen and whatever spot the chicken poops on is who the winner is.

Out in the field way behind the Lions Hall is where the balloons go up. This year they had bands playing out there for entertainment, plus the Masons have their ice cream sundaes and there was also pizza and BBQ available for purchase.  Each time the balloons are scheduled to go up there is a pilots’ meeting. This is where they determine if the balloons will go up or not. I checked the weather for the area ahead of time and was pretty confident that they would go up. Sure enough, this year they went up.  The great thing about this balloon festival is that they allow the public right up by the balloons, so I have been able to get great pictures and videos throughout the years.

Downtown Metamora has a variety of activities going on as well.  There’s a car show, a vendor tent, the Masons also sell their ice cream sundaes down in the park (that’s before the field opens for the balloons), this year there was also a Civil War encampment and there are food vendors.

This small town brings in thousands of people that fill the parking spaces, even those that are specially created just for the event.  In addition to the parking in town, there are also shuttles from the local high school and from a church.

Next year, be sure to put this on your activities list for August and when you come into town, bring your patience and have some fun!

One of the websites that I like to browse for something different to do is michiganfun.com.  This website is where you can find festivals and events around Michigan for just about every day of the year.  This is where I learned about the Midland River Days and Balloon Festival.

We arrived in Midland and didn’t see any signs of the festival from the main road off of the freeway.  Going just a few streets to the east we found the festival. Then parking was easy to find with available spaces and close to the festival.

From the edge of the parking lot where we were parked came the smell of BBQ chicken being made by the Lions Club.  Kids were climbing the portable rock wall and sliding down the zipline. As we walked further into the festival we walked through the food truck area there were a variety of trucks including BBQ, pizza, Kona ice, and kettle corn.

Next to the entrance to the Tridge, which is a bridge that crosses both the Tittabawassee and Chippewa Rivers where they intersect, there was set up an old tractor that was trimming wood.  They were also branding the wood pieces with River Days on them for free souvenirs. A short distance from them was Ike’s Mobile Kayak Rentals.

For just $5 per person you were able to take a kayak ride down the Tittabawasee River.  The ladies at the tent were very helpful in getting you a life jacket and knowing who was next.  There was a guide out on the water that had a large yellow duck tied to the back of her kayak. It made her easy to see.  She was out there to help make sure you didn’t go too far and assist if you needed any help. At the turn around point there was a rope hanging down from one of the tree branches.  The rope reminded of something you would see kids holding onto and jumping into the river by. Putting the kayaks in and taking them out of the water was an intriguing contraption that made it easy for anyone to get in and out.  You had no worries of the kayak tipping over while trying to get into or out of.

After our kayak trip we ventured over to the food truck section.  We knew exactly where we were headed. It was the truck where all the smoke was coming from.  This was Olvera’s BBQ. We have seen this truck at other food truck festivals, but have never eaten there due to the long line.  This time there was no line, we lucked out. Undecided at first, because everything sounded and smelled good, we both had the rib plate with 1 side.  There were many sides to choose from, such as cole slaw, beans, potato salad and chips. The ribs fell off the bone and full of flavor. There was sauce on them, but it was a light application and not dripping with it.  We now know why there has always been a line up when at other food truck festivals.

To let our food settle, we took a casual stroll through the arts fair area.  What great artists they had. Plus, for their festival t-shirts they had a few display shirts and the tables were filled with colors and sizes of shirts.  The shirts were then printed on demand. This is good to note because then you don’t ahve

My favorite part of balloon festivals is always the balloons.  However, they are dependent on the weather, more so than the rest of the festival.  A storm came through and they were unable to go up. What I did like though was the updates that they kept up with on their Facebook page.  I highly recommend that any festival you are thinking of going to, visit their Facebook page and like them. Be sure to have the all notifications turned on.  This way you know any updates that are posted. So, although disappointing that the balloons did not go up, the festival committee does not control the weather.

Overall, this was a festival that we’d go to again.  Have you been the Midland River Days and Balloon Fest?  What year did you go? What was your favorite activity?

This Friday and Saturday I will be at the Michigan Made Festival.  Friday from 4 pm to 9 pm and Saturday from 11 am to 9 pm. What’s a Michigan Made Festival?  It’s a festival where the focus is on Michigan made products and services.

What all will be at the Michigan Made Festival?

• Artists
• Crafters
• Shopping
• Food
• Bands
• Games
• Beer/Cider
• Cocktails
• Wine
• Pop
• Kids Zone

Where is the Michigan Made Festival located?

Canterbury Village (Behind the King’s Castle)

2359 Joslyn Ct.

Orion, Mi 48359

Does it cost anything?

Yes, just a $3 entry fee, unless you are a veteran or active-duty military and then you get in for free.  Also, under 12 years of age is free. Parking is free, also.

I will be going live on Facebook on Friday so that you know where I am at.  Maybe I will go live on Saturday as well.  

Come on out on either Friday or Saturday, say hello, buy a signed book and take a selfie with me.

Take note, the festival is also taking place on Sunday from noon to 5 pm.  However, I will not be there. I am doing my 18th half-marathon on Sunday at Kensington MetroPark in Milford, MI.

It’s coming up on a weekend in Michigan and you are looking for something to do, but nothing is going on in your town.  So, what do you do? You visit www.michignafun.com and find a small town festival or event to go to.  It’s a great resource, as you can search by date and/or region.  If you are looking for weekend activities be sure to set your search parameters to include the Thursday before and the Monday after the weekend.  Some festivals start out on Thursday.

We found three food festivals to go to and they were all very different.  The first one we went to was the Michigan Rib Fest. We had gone to this one last year,  but they moved the location to a better spot. This year it was in a nice cut field out behind Canterbury Village in Orion Twp.  Last year it was downtown Royal Oak in an asphalt parking lot. It was nice to not have all that hot asphalt to deal with this year.  There were plenty of food trucks that circled the tent where you could sit and enjoy the ribs. There were other selections to choose from, but when you are at a Rib Fest, one should at least try the ribs.  While at the Rib Fest there are other activities to do, such as the monster truck rides, bounce houses for the kids, the portable rock wall was also there. Then the various non-food vendors were located throughout Canterbury Village, which made for a nice shopping experience.  The one activity that was fun to watch was the pig and weiner dog races.  

Next up we visited my favorite Michigan city to visit, Frankenmuth.  Frankenmuth always seems to have some kind of festival going on or at least a majority of their weekends something is going on.  This time though it was on a Thursday afternoon/evening and it was the Frankenmuth Funtown Chowdown Food Truck Festival. This takes place the 2nd Thursday of the month from May through September.  The location for this festival is out in the asphalt parking lot between River Place Shops and The Bavarian Inn Hotel. So, if it’s sunny and hot out, it really heats up. There were small tents for you to sit under to eat your goodies, plus tables and chairs sitting out in the sun.  This festival starts at 3 pm in the afternoon, so it is very hot to start. You will want to bring your sunscreen, a hat and stay hydrated. The food trucks are located around the perimeter of the parking lot with the tents and tables in the middle.  

We enjoyed one of the BBQ vendor trucks – Clyde’s Pit.  I got the meat only brisket. It was very tasty. I did not have to put sauce on it but after tasting the sauce I opted to put it lightly on it. The one food truck that I could not miss was The Bavarian Inn Restaurant Cluck Truck.  They have their famous buttered noodles that you can get as a side dish in the pint and quart size. We opted for the pint and split it. They were temperature hot, the butter was all melted with the saltine crackers crumbled on the top.  This is just like you were in the restaurant. I highly recommend trying them if you haven’t. 

No trip to Frankenmuth for us is not complete until we have visited the Cherry Republic.  We always trade in our empty bottles and replenish them with their black cherry cream soda.  They have a tasting bar for you to sample their craft sodas and their wines for those 21 and up.  Throughout the store there are samples of their Michigan made cherry products.

For the third food festival we went to The Taste of Brighton.  Brighton is located off of I-96 and US-23 in Michigan. The festival was on Main Street and it was blocked off at Grand River Ave.  Local vendors lined the street with various offerings. We walked the length of the festival checking out all the vendors and then on the way back through we picked a couple of places to eat.  First we stopped at Ciao Amici’s for their bread crumb crusted chicken tender on a skewer. It was very tender and tasty. Plus it came with a pineapple dipping sauce. We will be returning during normal business hours.  Our second stop was for BBQ, of course. This is a new restaurant in town called Ginopolis. The pulled pork sliders were very good. We sat and ate our BBQ while watching the ladies from ______ doing their dancing up on the fabric.My only issue with this festival was that the schedule of events was not easy to find.  It was only on their Facebook page and the graphic was tiny. You had to download the graphic so that you could enlarge it enough to read it. There were comments on the posting to let them know that it was too small.  Hopefully next year’s schedule will be easier to read.  

These are just three of many festivals that take place year round in Michigan.  To find one in a town near you please visit www.michiganfun.com.

Do you have a favorite festival?  Please feel free to let me know in the comments along with a link.

July in Michigan means the Michigan Rib Fest is taking place.  This year’s location was at Canterbury Village in Orion Township.  We liked this location in the grassy back field area over last year’s location of downtown Royal Oak in an asphalt parking lot.  

We entered through the steel frame entry that to me reminds me of the framing that one uses for the lighting at concerts.  There’s a small entry fee and for those over 21 you get a nice paper wristband. However, with that wristband you can leave the grounds, go shopping and come back in for no additional charge.  Plus, if you are military, you get in for free.

My first priority of going to the Michigan Rib Fest was to eat.  I went hungry, which is by far the most recommended. With that, I didn’t look closely at the vendors.  I did notice that Crown Royal was there making bags for soldiers. I wish I would have gone back to check out their booth closer.  Plus, they had a royal purple chair.

We got back close to the food vendors and found the  monster truck rides. These were a portion of the asphalt parking area.  It was far enough away from where you eat that you could only hear the siren noises that it made.  The engine noises were minimal at a distance. Right behind it were the inflatables for the kids along with the portable rockwall.

This is all well and good, but what did we eat?  I know that’s my first thought when reading an article about a rib fest anywhere.  We walked around the food vendors before deciding which ones to go to. They were nicely spaced out and a variety of vendors.  Along with barbeque they had Asian food and even ice cream available. Ice cream is a great vendor when you have the heat that Michigan has been having this summer.

After our tour of who all was there as a food vendor we decided on 3 vendors to try out their ribs.  They all offered a 2 or 3 bone sampler for $5 or $7 respectively.

The first vendor that we went to was Smoke Ring BBQ out of Farmington Hills, Michigan.  To fairly compare the rib samples, we did not get any sauce on any of them. Pictured to the right is the three bone sampler that we received.  Note they are meaty and we found them to be tender and the meat fell off the bone.

I would eat at this food truck again.  They were friendly when we approached the window.  The food was up in a timely fashion and they had paper towels along with sauces and forks.  Their sign caught my attention: “Sorry we didn’t bring our trophies and awards to display, we decided to leave them at home where they belong.  All we brought was our DAMN GOOD BBQ” I have to agree that they have good BBQ.  

The second vendor we decide to patronize was Hog Wild BBQ.  They have a really flashy truck. I like the bright orange and the hog on a motorcycle.  There was not a line at their food truck and I can understand why. We approached the window and they were not ready to greet us.

Our order was the two bone sampler with no sauce.  We picked it up at the grill. The guys working the grill were not the welcoming committee.  These bones were not very meaty and pretty dry.  

We decided on Pork and Bones for our third food truck.  The name really caught us and amazingly there was a very small line.  Very friendly people at the window to take our order and when handing out our two bone sampler.

The rib sampler was very meaty and tender.  The meat also fell off the bones. Definitely gave Smoke Ring BBQ a run for their money.  In my book the two are tied.  

For beverages we just hit up one of the lemonade stands.  That was the longest line we waited in. The family ahead of us ordered 5 lemonades and the gals were overwhelmed.  Patience is a virtue There are no refills, even for the large plastic cups.  

We headed back to the front of the festival to the Hot Dog Pig Races, which we were on the schedule shortly.  There was time to kill though, so we went into Yates at Canterbury Village and Michigan Market Place. Both are great for picking up some local finds.  We did return to watch some Hot Dog Pig Races. They have both pigs and weiner dogs that race. It’s very cute and entertaining.

Overall we had a great time with some great food.  I hope they have it at this location next year.