MidwestWeekends.com — Your Travel Guide to the Upper Midwest

Heritage festivals 2013

March

  • (Mar. 8 – 10)Winter Powwow

    West Allis, WI

    This traditional powwow with drumming, singing and food is the winter version of Indian Summer Festival. At Wisconsin State Fair Park. Grand entries are 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.


  • (Mar. 9)St. Patrick's Day parade

    Milwaukee, WI

    The big parade starts at noon, starting at Third and Wisconsin downtown and followed by music, dancing and pipes and drums at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center.


  • (Mar. 9)Celtic Fest

    Moorhead, MN

    This free festival at the Hjemkomst Center includes two entertainment stages, heritage programs, arts and crafts, interactive booths and Celtic food and treats.


  • (Mar. 11 – 16)St. Patrick's Day Parade and Irish Fest

    New London, WI

    This town west of Appleton becomes "New Dublin'' for the week, with festivities that include a big Grand Parade at 1 p.m. Saturday, followed with Irish music, food and marketplace under a heated big-top tent.


  • (Mar. 14 – 16)St. Patrick's Day Festival

    Emmetsburg, IA

    In northwest Iowa, this is the state's Irish capital, and it celebrates with many festivities, including a parade at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.


  • (Mar. 17)St. Patrick's Day parade

    St. Paul, MN

    In this traditionally Irish city, the noon parade runs along Fourth Street to Rice Park.


  • (Mar. 17)St. Patrick's Day parade

    Madison, WI

    The parade is at 1:30 p.m. and runs from Capitol Square.


  • (Mar. 17)St. Patrick's Day Parade

    Chicago, IL

    In Chicago, they really do dye the river green. Watch the dye job at 10:45 p.m. from the Michigan Avenue or Columbus Drive bridges, then watch the noon parade through Grant Park.


May

  • (May 2 – 5)Festival of Nations

    St. Paul, MN

    Food, music, crafts and dance from 90 different ethnic groups at the downtown RiverCentre.


  • (May 2 – 4)Pella Tulip Time

    Pella, IA

    This big Dutch heritage fest features daily historical tours, a craft market and afternoon and evening parades.


  • (May 3 – 4)Dutch Days Festival

    Fulton, IL

    This Mississippi town, across from Clinton, Iowa, celebrates its heritage with Dutch dancing, windmill tours, street scrubbing and a 3 p.m. Saturday parade.


  • (May 4 – 11)Tulip Time

    Holland, MI

    More than 6 million tulips bloom during this festival, which features a Dutch market, dancers, trolley tours, big-name performers and three parades, ending with the Meijer Muziekparade, with 40 bands and 40 floats, at 2 p.m. Saturday.


  • (May 4)Cinco de Mayo

    St. Paul, MN

    This fiesta on the West Side (just south of downtown) features a parade, low-rider car show and lots of food, music and dancing.


  • (May 4 – 5)Maifest

    Amana, IA

    There's a lot going on in this former communal society in eastern Iowa — a 10 a.m. Saturday parade, polka music, keg-tapping, food-sampling, artisan demonstrations and pony rides.


  • (May 4 – 5)Polish Fest

    Chicago, IL

    This fest at the Copernicus Center celebrates Polish Constitution Day and features polka dancing, a pierogi-eating contest, music on two stages and a kids' stage with magic and games.


  • (May 16 – 18)Tulip Festival

    Orange City, IA

    The festival in this Dutch town in northwest Iowa draws 100,000 with dance, music, street scrubbing and parades at 2:15 and 6:30 p.m. daily.


  • (May 17 – 19)Syttende Mai

    Stoughton, WI

    The festival in this town south of Madison, which celebrates Norwegian constitution day, is the largest in North America and probably the world. The big Norwegian parade is at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.


  • (May 17 – 19)Syttende Mai

    Spring Grove, MN

    In Minnesota, Norwegians settled first in this town in bluff country. There's Norwegian food, music and dance, and a big parade Saturday.


  • (May 17 – 19)Syttende Mai

    Westby, WI

    This Norwegian town, southeast of La Crosse, holds a bicycle tour, troll hunt, rommegrot-eating contest, old-time music, children's tractor pull and a big parade at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.


  • (May 17 – 19)Civil War Weekend

    Evansville, WI

    This town just west of Janesville reenacts activities on the home front, with army camp life and training; period musical performances; a parade; a patriotic meeting of citizens and a “talking spirits” presentation at the cemetery.


  • (May 19)Norwegian Constitution Day Parade

    Park Ridge, IL

    Syttende Mai festivities in this near-west suburb of Chicago start in Hodges Park at noon, with the parade starting at 1 p.m. at Talcott and Cumberland streets.


  • (May 25 – 27)Fort Michilimackinac Pageant

    Mackinaw City, MI

    This free pageant at Colonial Michilimackinac features a cast of more than 400, re-enacting events that took place between the French, British and Indian tribes on June 2, 1763.

    There are also 18th-century fashion shows, voyageur contests, kids' games and a 1 p.m. Saturday parade.


  • (May 25 – 26)Native American Festival

    St. Ignace, MI

    This family-friendly festival at the Museum of Ojibwa Culture features drumming, dancing, singing, Ojibwa games, artisan workshops and Sunday mass in Ojibwa.


  • (May 31 – Jun 2)Irish Festival

    Oshkosh, WI

    This festival in Riverside Park on the Fox River includes Irish music, food and dancing.


June

  • (Jun 1)Milwaukee Highland Games

    Wauwatosa, WI

    Listen to bagpipe bands, eat Scottish food and watch sheepdogs, Highland dancers and athletes.


  • (Jun 14 – 16)Polish Fest

    Milwaukee, WI

    This big festival on the lakefront features lots of rollicking, zydeco-laced polka and hearty food.


  • (Jun 18 – 23)Swedish Days Festival

    Geneva, IL

    This Fox River town on the western edge of Chicago offers music, a zipline, a carnival,  a Swedish cottage walk and a big parade at 1 p.m. Sunday. 


  • (Jun 22 – 23)Midsummer Fest

    Coon Valley, WI

    This family festival at Norskedalen Nature & Heritage Center, in the coulees near La Crosse, features the best of Scandinavian culture: food, music and crafts. For children, there will be a visit from the trolls by the bridge, fjord horses and a scavenger hunt.


  • (Jun 28 – 29)Midwest Viking Festival

    Moorhead, MN

    This festival at the Hjemkomst Center includes demonstrations, performances and goods that tell about society and culture in Viking-age Scandinavia and beyond.


July

  • (Jul 11 – 14)Bastille Days

    Milwaukee, WI

    Look for minstrels, beignets, French lessons, a Mardi Gras celebration and a 43-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower in Cathedral Square Park.


  • (Jul 18 – 21)Festa Italiana

    Milwaukee, WI

    A celebration of all things Italian at the lakefront Henry Maier Festival Park.


  • (Jul 19 – 21)Bavarian Blast

    New Ulm, MN

    "Das Fest Mit Fun'' features German music, food and beer at the Brown County Fair Grounds in this Minnesota River Valley town. The big parade is Sunday.


  • (Jul 20 – 21)Oregon Trail Days

    Oregon, IL

    This town on the Rock River, south of Rockford, celebrates its heritage with a Native American encampment and cowboy and frontier acts, including a medicine show, gun-spinning and rope-cracking. There are covered-wagon rides and and a canoe rally and 8K run on Sunday. Rent a tepee or covered wagon to stay in.

    Proceeds go to restore Oregon's 48-foot statue of Chief Black Hawk, made in 1911.


  • (Jul 21)Chinatown Summer Fair

    Chicago, IL

    This neighborhood street festival includes a lion-dance procession, baby and cutest dog contests and food from the many restaurants.


  • (Jul 25 – 27)Lumberjack World Championships

    Hayward, WI

    You can't see this kind of thing just anywhere: cut-throat log rolling, boom running, springboard chopping and speed climbing.


  • (Jul 25 – 27)Nordic Fest

    Decorah, IA

    Ole and Lena host this friendly, authentic, very fun and very large festival of Scandinavian culture. The parade, one of the region's best, is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.


  • (Jul 25 – 28)German Fest

    Milwaukee, WI

    Look for dachshunds, dirndls and lots of oompah music at this big party at Henry Maier Festival Park on Lake Michigan.


  • (Jul 26 – 27)Laura Ingalls Wilder pageant

    Walnut Grove, MN

    The festival in this western Minnesota town revolves around the book "On the Banks of Plum Creek.'' Family Festivals are held each Saturday.


August

  • (Aug. 4 – 17)Folklorama

    Winnipeg, MB

    This Manitoba prairie town celebrates its heritage with pavilions representing 44 nationalities, offering music, dance and food at many venues.


  • (Aug. 9 – 11)Grand Portage Powwow & Rendezvous

    Grand Portage, MN

    Re-enactors from across the continent gather at Grand Portage National Monument for the annual fur-trade rendezvous; next door, the  Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa holds a powwow. Reserve lodgings far in advance.


  • (Aug. 9 – 11)Irish Fair

    St. Paul, MN

    This big heritage fest on the banks of the Mississippi includes Irish Got Talent and best legs in a kilt contests, hurling demonstrations, dancing and lots of music.


  • (Aug. 9 – 11)Twin Cities Polish Festival

    Minneapolis, MN

    This celebration of Polish culture is on the St. Anthony Main riverfront across from downtown, with music, art, food and free polka lessons.


  • (Aug. 10)Bud Billiken Parade & Picnic

    Chicago, IL

    It's the 84th year for this big parade on the South Side, which draws 75,000 participants and 1.5 million spectators.


  • (Aug. 15 – 18)Irish Fest

    Milwaukee, WI

    The nation's largest Irish festival features more than 300 entertainers on 17 stages, plus children's activities and demonstrations by Irish dog breeds. In Henry Maier Festival Park.


  • (Aug. 23 – 25)Mexican Fiesta

    Milwaukee, WI

    Enjoy the best of Mexican culture at the Henry Maier festival park on Lake Michigan.


  • (Aug. 30 – Sep 2)Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion

    Rollag, MN

    Revel in the past during this show of antique machinery, which includes rides on trains and a carousel, square dancing, roving musicians and nightly jamborees.


  • (Aug. 31 – Sep 1)Wilhelm Tell Festival

    New Glarus, WI

    This Swiss town near Madison has been putting on an outdoor William Tell pageant since 1938. Festivities include a children's lantern parade, yodeling, an arts show and ethnic fashions.


September

  • (Sep. 6 – 8)Indian Summer Festival

    Milwaukee, WI

    This lakefront festival features a powwow, canoe rides, Aztec dancers, lacrosse lessons and fireworks.


  • (Sep. 7 – 8)James J. Hill Days

    Wayzata, MN

    The festival in this western suburb of Minneapolis is best known for its dachshund races, in which more than 100 dogs compete in the hurdles, sprints and sofa jump, followed by a costume contest and smart pet tricks. They're at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wayzata West Middle School. There's also an arts and crafts fair, kids' carnival and parade at 1 p.m. Sunday on Lake Street.


  • (Sep. 14)Parade of Nations and Multicultural Festival

    Hancock/Houghton, MI

    The parade begins at 11 a.m. in Hancock and ends at noon in Houghton at Dee Stadium, where there's a festival with music, dancing and food from around the world.


  • (Sep. 20 – 21)German Fest

    Guttenberg, IA

    There will be music, dancing, children's games and lock and dam tours in this antebellum town on the Mississippi River.


  • (Sep. 20 – 21)Oktoberfest

    St. Paul, MN

    There will be dachshund and bed races in addition to folk dancing and music on Rice Street.


  • (Sep. 20 – 21)Festa Italiana Minnesota

    St. Paul, MN

    This free festival on Harriet Island features music on two stages, organ grinders, bocce-ball lessons, gondola rides and a "street of love.''


  • (Sep. 21 – 22)Fall Gathering at the North West Co. Fur Post

    Pine City, MN

    No one's more fun than a voyageur, and they'll be dancing, boasting and trying to best one another at this family-friendly event an hour north of the Twin Cities. For the kids, there's a bead scramble, candle-dipping and a scavenger hunt.


  • (Sep. 27 – 28)Cornish Festival

    Mineral Point, WI

    In the old lead-mining district in southwest Wisconsin, play shove ha'penny in the Kiddleywink Pub, eat figgyhobbin and pasties, listen to tommyknocker tales and tour Cornish miners' cottages.


  • (Sep. 27 – 28)Kalona Fall Festival

    Kalona, IA

    This Mennonite community just southwest of Iowa City, famous for its quilts, will offer pony rides, a pumpkin-carving contest, demonstrations of Old World artisanry, music and homemade potato chips, apple fritters, ice cream and chicken, biscuits and gravy.


  • (Sep. 28 – 29)All-State Barn Tour in Iowa

    Across the state, IA

    It's the Iowa Barn Foundation's annual free, self-guided tour of restored historic barns.


October

  • (Oct. 5 – 6)Big Island Rendezvous and Festival

    Albert Lea, MN

    This southern Minnesota festival is great for families, with more than 1,200 re-enactors dancing, demonstrating, competing and pulling visitors back into the fur-trade era.


  • (Oct. 12 – 13)Civil War Heritage Weekend at Norskedalen

    Coon Valley, WI

    This pioneer farmstead in the coulees southeast of La Crosse is wonderfully atmospheric, and the crackerjack re-enactors of the Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry's Company B give the region's most affecting portrayal of war.


  • (Oct. 12 – 13)Oktoberfest

    Cedarburg, WI

    This festival just north of Milwaukee features music and food plus goofy contests: wife-carrying, sauerkraut-eating, a German spelling bee and a live Glockenspiel show.


  • (Oct. 13)Harvest Fest

    New Glarus, WI

    See old-time artisanry at the Swiss Historical Village, including sausage-stuffing and cheese-making in the 1890s cheese factory.


November

  • (Nov. 26 – Dec 24)Christkindlmarket

    Chicago, IL

    This is the most authentic market, with many German vendors who bring over Old World toys, ornaments and sweets. There's a Children's Lantern Parade and concerts on Wednesdays and weekends.