The North Shore Dragon Boat Festival is this weekend. It starts on Friday night with the Parade of Teams at 7 p.m. followed by Opening Ceremonies in Harbor Park.
- Dragon boat practices start on Thursday, races are on Saturday.
The heart of the summer season starts this weekend with the 7th annual North Shore Dragon Boat Festival as hundreds of people from all over the Midwest (and beyond) flock to Grand Marais to participate in and watch the races. The event starts with practice paddles on Thursday and Friday. At 7 p.m. Friday, teams converge on the Senior Center parking lot with their colorful T-shirts and banners and, occasionally, water-filled balloons, for the Parade of Teams down Wisconsin Street to Harbor Park.
Then there will be drumming and lots of dragons to watch as well as the Opening Ceremonies followed by a dance with music by The Splinters.
Saturday morning, participants can have a Dragon Breakfast at the Crooked Spoon Cafe from 7-10 a.m., a fundraiser for Great Expectations School. The entire event is a fundraiser for three non-profits in town: WTIP Community Radio, the North Shore Health Care Foundation and North House Folk School.
There will be lots of exciting races to watch on Saturday, too, and youth and intergenerational races at noon. Food and craft vendors will be on the streets, too. In short, a true celebration of Grand Marais in summertime.
Scroll forward one day, to tomorrow, July 29, to really begin your weekend. A new play opens at the Grand Marais Playhouse on Thursday night at 7 p.m. It’s Cole Porter’s musical “You Never Know” and it should be a great show.
And there’s a wonderful art exhibit that’s opening in the lobby of the Arrowhead Center for the Arts in conjunction with the play.
Alice Powell's "Afternoon on the South Shore" is one of the paintings in the Sun-Kissed Paintings show which opens on Thursday in the lobby of the ACA.
Called Sun-Kissed Paintings, it features the works of Alice Powell, Carolyn Sevareid, Jan Attridge and Emily Ulhorn and a poster by Emma Bradley — veteran and accomplished artists all. Four of them are over 70 and Sevareid is just one year shy of that magic number, and these women are truly talented painters. They’ll have large canvases in oils and acrylics as well as a great selection of affordable prints and cards.
The opening reception is from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday with a reception continuing after the play. Helen Muth, Bev Denyes, Jane Burley and Gerry Grant will be hosts at the reception and Billy D. will play. The reception continues after the show, with music, refreshments and a chance to meet the cast. This show is a must-see.
The Sun-Kissed Paintings exhibit continues in the ACA lobby throughout the run of the musical. Performances of “You Never Know” are at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday this weekend and the weekend of Fisherman’s Picnic. For tickets, click here.
Lots of people will be town this weekend, so there are lots of choices of things to do.
5 teapots by J.D. Jorgenson
The Grand Marais Art Colony, for example, is hosting “Fire & Clay: A Free Pottery Demo and Exhibit” by Minnesota potter J.D. Jorgenson from 5-7 p.m. Friday. Jorgenson, who throws on a Japanese treadle wheel with local clays he prepares himself and then fires in a wood-fired kiln, will talk about the process of making his pots as well as demonstrate how they’re thrown. An exhibit of his work as well as a slide show are planned. And it’s free! To see Jorgenson’s work and read about him, click here.
There are all kinds of classes scheduled at the Art Colony this summer, too. Click here for all the great info and inspiring images.
The Farm & Craft Market in the Senior Center Parking lot is open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., too, with lots of artisans was fresh produce grown in Cook County.
On Sunday, a new exhibit in the Fireplace Room at the Cross River Heritage Center in Schroeder opens with paintings by Bruce Palmer and beautiful functional pottery by Ann Ward.
And the exhibit of paintings by Jan Hartley Wise and Penny Perry at the Johnson Heritage Post has been getting good reviews. The Heritage Post is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Pete Kavanaugh at the Gunflint Tavern on Thursday, Tres Amigos at the Tavern on Friday & Saturday. Jim Hall is there on Sunday. Michael Monroe has a Log Cabin concert on Saturday night, too. Rod N Real play Birch Terrace on Saturday as well.
On Sunday, the North Shore Community Band plays at the Eight Broadway Stage at 1 p.m.,, Rod N Real at Devil Track Resort (5-8), Bill Doucette is at Birch Terrace this weekend, too.
Next weekend is Fisherman’s Picnic. Click here for the schedule. Details next week.
Meanwhile. have a great weekend and enjoy the dragon boat racing!
