August 15, 16, & 17, 2008 If you are looking for true Paradise, take the road to Paradise, Michigan. This year is the 25th Annual Wild Blueberry Festival in Paradise. The Festival is held on the third full weekend of August each year when the town puts on its "Blue Clothes" and invites everyone to join them for the Arts & Crafts Fair and Wild Blueberry Celebration. It is always lots of fun! Visitors can stroll the grounds along the shore of beautiful Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior, browse the Arts & Crafts Fair with 50+ artists, and enjoy continuous family entertainment. Festival visitors will know they are in "Paradise" when they taste the homemade blueberry pies, muffins, and buckles available throughout the weekend. A delicious Blueberry Brunch accompanied by the piano music of Palma Richardson will start the day both Friday and Saturday, and the Blueberry Brunch will run on Sunday morning also. Marjorie Shaefer will entertain with a collection of rhymes, fables, and folk tales each day, and Paradise's own Chet Mitchell will amaze us with his juggling ability and comic wit for three fun-filled days. Friday's entertainment this year includes a high energy performance by Guy Louis' Chautauqua Express; magician, Eugene Clark as the Amazing Clark; musician Carl Behrend singing songs of the Great Lakes; and musician, Bill Jamerson performing "CCC Boys". Friday evening at the "Blueberry Jamboree" from 6:00 - 10:00 pm there will be Horse-drawn wagon rides from 6:00 pm until dusk, and encore performances by Guy Louis' Chautauqua Express at 6:00 pm, and Carl Behrend from 8:00-10:00 pm.
Sunday begins with Ventriloquist, Richard Paul, and then we sit back and relax for an afternoon of enjoyable folk music with the Blue Water Ramblers. The "Blueberry Jamboree" is held both Friday and Saturday evenings under the canopy in downtown Paradise.
If you want to pick your own blueberries, grab a bucket. In the Eastern Upper Peninsula, most of the land north of the Tahquamenon River is covered with blueberries-along the roads, in the fields, and out in the open. Blueberries are usually growing under the sun, or in sparse shade, so don't look in the pine forests. They thrive in open areas where loggers have cleared the land.
Artists and Crafters: Click here for information and an application blank for the Arts & Crafts Fair. 2009 dates for the Blueberry Festival will be August 21, 22, & 23, 2009 Photographs of the Paradise Blueberry Festival by Al Barbour, Paradise, MI
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