The River Club Glen Arbor will holds its first annual 5K and 10K Run & Hole in One on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 9 am. Click here for information and to sign up. After the run athletes will gather at River Club, enjoy a free meal, awards ceremony, a hole in one contest and live music. An emcee will keep the energy up as we celebrate to your accomplishment. It’s more than a race, it’s a family celebration.
The Leelanau Historical Society (LHS) is set to host the annual Leelanau Maritime History Festival on Saturday, Sept. 12. This well-loved festival, along with the equally loved 21st annual Wood Boats on the Wall, welcomes guests along the newly constructed boardwalk overlooking the Leland River.
The concluding show for Music On The Mountain at The Homestead on Sept. 9 will feature the easy-grooving sounds of East Bay Drive, the popular Traverse City-based jazz band. Now an official five-piece, it will be augmented again this year by special guest Miriam Pico on vocals. The band is an outgrowth of happenstance and shared interests. When longtime Traverse City pianist David Chown was forced to leave his studio at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons, his occasional bandmate Rick Kiehle suggested they go in together on a space that could serve as an office and studio for both of them. That would also allow them to enlist others as their musical needs dictated.
Those who remain up north and walk across the Glen Lake Narrows Bridge at noon on Labor Day Monday will get an extra treat this year. Glen Lake Manor owners Sue and Robert Rife will host an afterparty from 12:30-2 pm at the 120-year-old estate on M-22—0.4 miles west of the bridge. The event might double as a goodbye party of sorts for the Rifes, since the Manor is under contract to sell. The Bridge Walk, a locals’ tradition since 1995 to mark the end of the summer tourism season, takes place this year on Sept. 7. Bridge Walk 2026 t-shirts will be available for sale at the Narrows Bridge.
For years, Traverse City pianist Jeff Haas performed in Leelanau County in various locations. Most recently, he played on Wednesdays at the Folded Leaf in Cedar, until the untimely closure of the bookstore and listening room. A chance encounter led to Haas returning to an old home, albeit one with a new name. Beginning Sept. 2, he will be playing Wednesday nights at Faro in Northport from 6-8 pm. “I have a history in Northport,” Haas says, noting he continues to have people asking him when he’ll be playing jazz there again.
The Cedar Polka Fest is an annual festival celebrating the towns rich Polish history. Lasting four days and nights, nearly 10,000 people descend on tiny Cedar in the heart of Leelanau County for family fun. Join Cedar to eat, drink, and dance the nights away. This is one of very few Polka Festivals left in the United States. The 44th annual Cedar Polka Fest kicks off Thursday, Aug. 27, under the big tent. The Polka Festival has become a signature event in Leelanau.
The Glen Lake Library in Empire will host wildlife veterinarian Dr. Carl Palazzolo on Thursday, Aug. 20. Dr. Palazzolo will discuss his new book “The Comeback of our National Symbol in Michigan.” Local author Gretchen Rose will present her two newly-published children’s book at the Glen Lake Library on Saturday, Aug. 22. She’ll read from “The Jingu Magical Garden” and “Dune Dragons and the Fairies of the Lake.” Both are middle-grade fantasy stories, inspired by nature, friendship and the resilience of the human heart.
Lake Street Studios Center Gallery in Glen Arbor opens an exhibit on Friday, Aug. 21, featuring artist Jessica Kovan and her work “It’s All About Love,” which uses birds not so much as symbols of flight, but as a way to consider connection, compassion, and our shared responsibility to the natural world.
Martin Sorge didn’t used to like cherry pie. Then the northern Indiana native spent a summer during college building sets at Interlochen Arts Academy’s theater department. He tasted the Grand Traverse region’s culinary pride and has been hooked ever since. “I get it now,” Sorge said. Sorge, who won the Great American Baking Show in 2023 and splits his time between Chicago and Leelanau County, debuts his first cookbook, “Great Bakes: Modern Classic Recipes from the Midwest,” at a National Writers Series event on Friday, Aug. 21, at 4 pm at Artemis Books & Goods in Traverse City’s warehouse district. The event is part of the Traverse City Food and Wine Festival, which runs Aug. 19-23.
They say you can’t go home again, but guitarist Joe Taylor would beg to differ. The South Carolina native returned to the Palmetto State after decades in New York City and hasn’t missed a beat. Now he feels like he’s coming home again, with a date: Aug. 19 at Music On The Mountain at The Homestead. “The fellas and I are really looking forward to it,” he says of himself and his bandmates. “We love the place.”