There’s More to Do than Visit the BWCA

If you are like most of our guests of Voyageur Canoe Outfitters then the only reason you pause on your way up the Gunflint Trail is to get gas or go to the bathroom in Grand Marais.  Did you know there are some people who come to our area to just visit Grand Marais, Minnesota? You might be surprised to know how many things happen in this small town by the big lake. There are so many activities going on that sometimes I even want to go into town on a weekend in the summer.  Not this weekend though. This weekend I hope to be paddling the Boundary Waters for a few days with a few friends. If you can only make it as far as Grand Marais then check out all of the fun things there are to do this weekend and every weekend by reading the NorthShore ArtScene.
Here’s the scoop from the NorthShore ArtScene by Joan Farnam.

Here’s proof that summer has really arrived in Cook County — the peonies are blooming, and the Grand Marais Arts Festival opens on Saturday, just to mention a few of things to do this busy weekend.

On Friday, Caribou Highlands on Lutsen Mountain will host the Hopped Up Beer Fest on Friday and Saturday. The band, Fresh Hops, will play Friday night.

The Grand Marais Arts Festival will be held in downtown Grand Marais on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with more than 70 regional and local artists juried into the show.

There will be all kinds of activities and demonstrations during the Arts Festival, too. There will be lots of live music in Harbor Park (see music schedule below), a wide variety of art activities, including screen printing a T-shirt, making an accordion book with the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, gyotoku fish printing with Cameron Norman, creating clay characeters with Denise Tennen,  rock balancing with Peter Juhl and having your portrait drawn by David Hahn.

The Arts Festival also includes the Clothesline Art Sale with works donated by artists of every age. The pieces will be installed on real clotheslines in the Art Colony’s booth, and everyone is invited to check them out. The sale is a fundraiser for the Art Colony.

There will also be artist talks and demonstrations throughout the weekend, and art of every medium to admire and enjoy.

And members of the Northwoods Fiber Guild will be demonstrating on the lawn of the Johnson Heritage Post during the Arts Festival on Saturday. WTIP Community Radio will be broadcasting live from the festival, too.

There are a number of other events on the opening day of the Arts Festival, Saturday, as well.  The Cook County Farm & Craft Market will be open in the Senior Center parking lot from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The North Shore Health Care Foundation will sponsor a pie social in the Johnson Heritage Post from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Cook County Historical Society is setting up a tent outside Bally’s Blacksmith Shop from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The public is invited to come identify mystery artifacts found while cleaning the shop, share stories about the shop and learn about the renovation.

And the Historical Society will hold its annual Planked Trout Dinner fundraiser at the Rec Park’s Recreation Hall that night at 5:30 p.m. For advance tickets, call 387-2883 or email history@boreal.org.

Singer/songwriter Rachel Kilgore will be in concert at What’s Upstairs? above Betsy Bowen’s Studio at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

And Drury Lane Books will host a Full Moon Music event outside on Saturday night featuring music by Yvonne Mills and Friends at 8 p.m.

There are some wonderful art exhibits in the county, as well.

“Feels Like Home: Jo Wood Beadwork and Don Lessard Paintings” continues at the Johnson Heritage Post. The Heritage Post is open from 10 am. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

Watercolor painter Tim Pearson has an on-going exhibit at the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Spotlight Gallery. The Art Colony is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

The Cross River Heritage Center  is hosting the 10th annual Lundie Vacation Home Tour at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The tour features homes in the Hovland area and a light supper at Naniboujou Lodge. The event is a fundraiser for the Schroeder Area Historical Society.For more info, click here.

And the Heritage Center is featuring a number of local artists this month, including work by painter Sandi Pillsbury Gredzens.