National Cherry Festival is July 1-8
Andrew Norton
The 80th National Cherry Festival takes place this year July 1-8. Traverse City will be bustling with all kinds of cherry-themed items and thousands of visitors. The festival's mission statement is, "to promote cherries, tourism and community." They definitely do that. 9,000 pancakes will be served up for breakfast on the 4th of July (with cherries on top, of course). On July 1-2 the Blue Angels will be showing off their aerodynamic skills over the waters of West Grand Traverse Bay. The National Cherry Festival will close with the Cherry Royale Parade on July 8.
For more details and information check out the National Cherry Festival website. For information on other fun things to do in the Traverse City area head over to the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau website.
Traverse City also has a new Frontier League baseball team - the Traverse City Beach Bums that will be playing a handful of home games during the weeklong National Cherry Festival. From the photos on the team website it appears that they have a really unique stadium. The main stands look like a beach resort. What a neat atmosphere for baseball.
National Cherry Festival article in the Traverse City Record Eagle.