Port Oneida Fair returns to Sleeping Bear Dunes
From staff reports
The Port Oneida Fair returns to the Port Oneida Rural Historic District of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Friday and Saturday, August 12-13, following a two-year COVID-19 hiatus. Beginning at 10 a.m. each day, and running until 4 p.m., visitors are invited to step back in time to actively experience life as it was in this once active community of robust farms of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The fair promotes the preservation of rural traditional skills, crafts, landscapes, and communities of the Upper Great Lakes Region through education and artistic expression.
Visitors may take a shuttle, drive, hike, or bike to six unique historic sites where a variety of activities take place. More than 60 demonstrators will be at the Thoreson, Olsen, Burfiend, Dechow, and Kelderhouse farms as well as the schoolhouse. Blacksmiths, quilters, farmers, and basket weavers will be demonstrating their crafts, and park rangers, volunteers, and Port Oneida residents will share their stories. There will be hands-on activities for the whole family. Food will be available for purchase or visitors may pack a picnic lunch.
The Port Oneida Fair is presented by the National Lakeshore in partnership with the non-profit organization “Historic Sleeping Bear.” For more information about the Port Oneida Fair, visit the National Lakeshore’s website.
There is no cost for the event; however, you must have a park entrance pass or an annual pass displayed in your vehicle. Park passes can be purchased at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire, which is open daily. For questions, please call 231-326-4700, extension 5010.
