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 |
Coordinates | 44°45′56″N85°37′25″W / 44.76556°N 85.62361°W |
Country | United States |
Years active | 1925–1941, 1948–2019, 2021–present |
Inaugurated | May 22, 1925 |
Attendance | >500,000 |
Website | www |
The National Cherry Festival is a food festival held annually in Traverse City, Michigan, United States. The eight-day festival celebrates cherry production in the Grand Traverse Bay region surrounding Traverse City, which is nicknamed the "Cherry Capital of the World". [1]
The festival was inaugurated in 1925 as the "Blessing of the Blossoms Festival". [2] Since being renamed to the National Cherry Festival by the Michigan Legislature in 1931, the festival has been held nearly every year since, with cancellations from 1942 to 1947 and in 2020.
In 1839, Revered Peter Dougherty, a Presbyterian missionary, established a Native American mission at present-day Old Mission, near the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula. [3] In 1852, Dougherty planted the first cherry trees, which flourished, much to the surprise of locals, who began to plant trees themselves. The first commercial cherry orchard was established in 1893. By the beginning of the 20th century, much of the Lake Michigan shoreline, especially the area surrounding Traverse City, was the center of a well-established cherry-growing industry. [4]
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. [6] The festival was cancelled from 1942 to 1946 due to World War II, and again in 1947, as Traverse City instead celebrated its centennial. [7] In 1964, the festival was extended from three days to five, and in 1968, was extended to eight days. In 1975, President Gerald Ford, a Michigan native, attended the festival, and led the Cherry Royale Parade as Grand Marshal. [8]
On July 25, 1987, Cherry Festival participants earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for baking the world's largest cherry pie. The pie was 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m) in diameter, weighing 28,350 pounds. This replaced the pie baked nine years earlier in Charlevoix, Michigan. This record was held until July 14, 1990, when a pie weighing 37,740 lb 10 oz (17,118.9 kg), 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter was baked and eaten by approximately 1500 people in Oliver, British Columbia. [9]
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. [10] [11] [12]
In 2020, Festival Officials announced on Thursday, April 16, 2020, that the 90th National Cherry Festival was to be postponed until the following year. [13] This postponement was in light of global health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival restarted in 2021.
The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy drupe.
Grand Traverse County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,238, making it the largest county in Northern Michigan. Its county seat is Traverse City. The county is part of the Traverse City metropolitan area, which also includes neighboring Benzie, Kalkaska, and Leelanau counties.
Peninsula Township is a civil township of Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The township had a population of 6,068 at the 2020 census, an increase from 5,433 at the 2010 census.
Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. In Japan, festivals are called matsuri (祭り), and the origin of the word matsuri is related to the kami, and there are theories that the word matsuri is derived from matsu (待つ) meaning "to wait ", tatematsuru (献る) meaning "to make offerings to the kami", and matsurau (奉う) meaning "to obey the kami". The theory that it is derived from matsurau is the most popular.
Traverse City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. The population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, with 153,448 residents in the four-county Traverse City metropolitan area. Traverse City is the most populous city in the Northern Michigan region.
The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in Prunus subgenus Cerasus. "Sakura" usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of Prunus serrulata, not trees grown for their fruit. Cherry blossoms have been described as having a vanilla-like smell, which is mainly attributed to coumarin.
Old Mission is an unincorporated community in Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Peninsula Township near the tip of Old Mission Peninsula along the shores of the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. As an unincorporated community, Old Mission has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics of its own.
Cherry Blossom Festival may refer to:
Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan, is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popular tourist destination, it is home to several small- to medium-sized cities, extensive state and national forests, lakes and rivers, and a large portion of Great Lakes shoreline. The region has a significant seasonal population much like other regions that depend on tourism as their main industry. Northern Lower Michigan is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale, which are also located in "northern" Michigan. In the northernmost 21 counties in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, the total population of the region is 506,658 people.
Grand Traverse Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan, located along the west coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The bay is separated from the rest of Lake Michigan by the Leelanau Peninsula. The bay is some 32 miles (51 km) long, ranges from 7 to 10 miles wide, and up to 620 feet (190 m) deep in spots. It is the second-largest bay of Lake Michigan, behind Green Bay.
Michigan wine refers to any wine that is made in the state of Michigan in the United States. As of 2020, there were 3,375 acres (1,366 ha) under wine-grape cultivation and over 200 commercial wineries in Michigan, producing 3 million US gallons (11,000,000 L) of wine. According to another count there were 112 operating wineries in Michigan in 2007.
The International Cherry Blossom Festival is held in Macon, Georgia every spring. Macon, known as the "Cherry Blossom Capital of the World," has around 300,000–350,000 Yoshino Cherry Trees that bloom around the city in late March every year. The festival, held to coincide with the typical blooming period, lasts for ten days and features events for people of all ages. It has been an annual event since 1982, though the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applefest is a yearly village-wide food, entertainment and crafts fair, taking place in several towns in Canada, the United States and England.
The cuisine of Michigan is part of the broader regional cuisine of the Midwestern United States. It is reflective of the diverse food history of settlement and immigration in the state, and draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Native North America.
Chateau Chantal is a winery located on the Old Mission Peninsula, only a few miles north of Traverse City, in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, United States. The chateau sits atop one of the highest points on the Old Mission Peninsula and has views of both East and West arms of Grand Traverse Bay. The winery is a European style chateau on a 64-acre (26 ha) estate. Chantal is in an official American Viticultural Area, one of five in Michigan, a state that specializes in vinifera, hybrid and native grape varieties. The Chateau has a tasting room, an eleven-room bed and breakfast, and a hospitality room where cooking classes and Jazz at Sunset are hosted.
The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (VCBF) is an annual spring festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to celebrate the city's cherry trees. The festival’s fundamental objectives includes public education through seasonal, cherry-themed citywide viewing programs, musical performances, and fine art and craft exhibitions.
Cherry production in Michigan is a major part of the agriculture industry in the state. Harvesting over 90,000 tons of cherries each year, Michigan is the nation's leading producer of tart cherries. The Montmorency cherry is the variety of tart, or sour, cherry most commonly grown in the state. A Hungarian sour cherry cultivar, Balaton, has been commercially produced in Michigan since 1998.