The Sun King will dance again at the Solstice Pageant at the Wooden Boat Show on Saturday at North House Folk School. The pageant starts at 8 p.m.
This weekend is the start of the festival season on the
Olya Wright gets fitted with her tick costume by her mom, Jeanne Wright, and pageant producer, Jim Ouray.
North Shore and one of the best leads it off — North House Folk School’s Wooden Boat Show and Summer Solstice Festival.
There are workshops and presentations, a speaker series, a film, storytelling, the boats-to-tool auction, sailing on the Hjordis, a Friday night barbecue and dance, a silent auction, chowder and, of course, the Summer Solstice Pageant.
Produced by the Good Harbor Hill Players with music by GAMEPALAJ, the pageant is always a highlight of the weekend. It starts at 8 p.m. on Saturday night. This year’s title? “Everything Under the Sun.”
The Playlist on WDSE PBS-8 aired a short piece about making puppets for this year’s pageant.. Channel 8′s videographer, Steve Ash, visited Grand Marais last week to shoot footage for the segment. Click here to view.
Erik Simula builds and travels in birchbark canoes.
Speakers at the Wooden Boat Show this year include birchbark canoe builder Erik Simula, photographer Layne Kennedy, authors Paul Danicic and Tim Cochrane, maritime ropemaker Dick Enstad, and North Shore photographer Nathanael Kuenzli.
The featured guest this year is Bob O’Hara, a Minnesota canoeist and author who has created a legacy through 52 consecutive years of paddling the Boundary WatersCanoe Area. He is also is an expert on paddling in the far north. He gives the keynote presentation on Sunday as well as a presentation at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, the film, “This Is Canoeing” by Wales filmmaker Justine Curjenben with music by Hovland’s Rick Skoog and co-writer Dave Warhane of Nashville will be screened at 5 p.m.
And not to forget the Boats-to-Tools Auction starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, the Lake Superior Chowder Experience at noon with chowders crafted by local restuarants (Tickets are $10) and the Wooden Boat Parade on the harbor at 2 p.m. Sunday. To read about all the events and find out more, check out the North House Web site here.
There’s lots more happening this weekend, too.
Liz Sivertson's "Symbiosis."
Sivertson Gallery celebrates its 30th anniversary with a Solstice Celebration and party on Saturday night from 5-7 p.m. It should be a fun time. Liz Sivertson has just completed an new series of paintings for the gallery. They’re full of energy, like always, and definitely worth a look. Also this weekend, a brand new Howard Sivertson oil painting will be on exhibit as will Kari Vick’s beautiful solar plate etchings.
Also for art lovers, the exhibit of paintings of Royal Canadian Mounted Police by Arnold Friberg continues
Printmakers from Uganda have a show at Betsy Bowen's Studio Gallery.
at the Cross River Heritage Center in Schroeder as does an exhibit of Scandinavian wood carvings and photographs at the Johnson Heritage Post in Grand Marais. Both are fun shows.
And there’s a great show of Ugandan printmakers at Betsy Bowen’s Studio that should not be missed.
"Buzzing: Apple Blossoms on Berglund's Farm" by Holly Johnson Beaster is one of the paintings on exhibit at the Art Colony.
The Grand Marais Art Colony has a new exhibit of paintings and prints, too, in the multi-purpose room in the new addition. The Art Colony is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week.
There’s an interesting class going on there this weekend, too, and visitors can watch some of it from the balcony. Lake Superior College instructor Dorian Beaulieau is teaching a class on raku firing and kiln building on Saturday and Sunday.
Bill Meyers works on a piece with his wood engraving tools. He will be one of the presenters at a public event at the Art Colony next Thursday, June 24.
A little farther ahead, the Art Colony will host the annual convention of the Wood Engravers Network, a world-wide organization, next week with a public presentation set from 5-6 p.m. Thursday, June 24. Seventeen wood engravers from all over the world, including Rome, will be in residence during the week, working together. Wood engraver Bill Myers will be one of the presenters. The public event includes a discussion of the history of wood engraving, an exhibit of historical examples of the work as well as demonstrations of the process. The public event next Thursday is free.
The read more about wood engravers and what they do, click here.
Music this weekend includes the newly re-organized band, the Un-named Stream, at the Gunflint Tavern on Thursday night from 8-11 p.m. Band members include Eric Frost, Jessa Wallendal, Barbara Jean Johnson, Bump Blomberg and Bill Hansen.
On Saturday, Tres Amigos play at the 8 Broadway Stage from noon to 2 p.m. And the Farm & Craft Market in the Senior Center runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Master Gardeners, who had to reschedule their plant sale because of the rain last week, will be at the market on Saturday, too.
And there will be a Lefse demonstration at the Cook County Historical Society Museum at 1 p.m. followed by a talk with Frank Hansen on Jean Raiken & Sawbill Lodge, starting at 3 p.m. The public is invited.
Tres Amigos also plays the Tavern on Friday and Saturday nights and Don Bauer will play on Sunday from 6:30-9 p.m.
Birch Terrace will feature live music on the deck on Saturday and Sunday from 1-5 p.m.
And, if you’re a fan of Celtic Thunder, you might be able to get tickets to their concert at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium on Monday. Here’s a clip.
For a little high energy to end this post, check out this video of Japanese tap dancers vs. the shamisen (a traditional Japanese instrument.)
Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to check out the Wooden Boat Show and Summer Solstice Festival!
