National Cherry Festival

The National Cherry Festival is a food festival in Traverse City, Michigan. It began in 1925 as the Blessing of the Blossoms Festival, which was held in early May to attract tourists to Northern Michigan to view the blooming cherry blossoms. In 1931 the Michigan Legislature renamed the festival the National Cherry Festival, and moved the event to the summer.[1]

National Cherry Festival
BeginsJuly 2, 2022
EndsJuly 9, 2022
FrequencyAnnual
VenueOpen Space Park
Location(s)Traverse City, Michigan
Inaugurated1925
Most recent2021
Attendance>500,000
Websitewww.cherryfestival.org
Cherries from Traverse City

History

The first cherry trees in the region were planted on the Old Mission Peninsula in 1852 by Rev. Peter Dougherty.[2] Commercial orchard production of cherries began in 1893 near Old Mission. The very first festival was held in May 1925, and was known as the Blessing of the Blossoms. The first cherry queen was Gertrude Brown.[3] In 1931, the Michigan Legislature renamed the festival to the National Cherry Festival, and moved to July.[4] The festival was cancelled from 1942 to 1947 due to World War II.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford, a Michigan native, attended the festival, and led the Cherry Royale Parade as Grand Marshal.[5]

On July 25, 1987, Cherry Festival participants earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for baking the world's largest cherry pie. The pie was 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m) in diameter, weighing 28,350 pounds. This replaced the pie baked nine years earlier in Charlevoix, Michigan. This record was held until July 14, 1990, when a pie weighing 37,740 lb 10 oz (17,118.9 kg), 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter was baked and eaten by approximately 1500 people in Oliver, British Columbia.[6]

In 2020, Festival Officials announced on Thursday, April 16, 2020, that the 90th National Cherry Festival was to be postponed until the following year.[7] This postponement was in light of global health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

See also

References
  1. Parsons, Emmy (July 10, 2007). "Early Festivals Put Charge in Tourism". Traverse City Record-Eagle. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
  2. "History of Cherries". National Cherry Festival. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  3. "Past Cherry Queens". National Cherry Festival. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  4. "History of the Traverse City National Cherry Festival". MyNorth.com. July 1, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  5. "Fun Facts". National Cherry Festival. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  6. "A Piece of the Pie". Northern Express. July 2, 2015.
  7. "National Cherry Festival COVID-19 Update". National Cherry Festival. April 16, 2020.

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