News Photo by Steve Schulwiitz Employees from Dial Tent and Awning Company install a large tent pole that helps erect the big tent at the boat harbor in Alpena on Tuesday. The tent will be home to entertainment during the Michigan Brown Trout Festival which begins Friday.

ALPENA — From its start on Friday, until it wraps up on July 24, the 48th annual Michigan Brown Trout Festival in Alpena has a plethora of fishing and entertainment opportunities for people looking for something to do.

From live bands to wine tasting to car shows, there is something for people of all ages to enjoy in the big tent — which has an admission fee, and in the small tent — which is free for people to enjoy and dance the night away.

The festivities begin Friday when JP and the Energy perform in the small tent. The festival picks up steam on Saturday as the namesake fishing tournament begins and the three-day high stakes tournament that lasts until Sunday commences. In the big tent, WATZ has brought country artist The Bronk Bros to town to energize those who feel like having a cocktail and doing some line dancing.

The Kickin-Fenders Band perform in the small tent on Saturday night.

Sunday is Family Fun Day at the festival and is packed with fun activities for children to do in and outside the big tent and classic rock band The Lonely Lovers will perform.

The seventh annual PNC Bank Kiddie Classic Fishing Tournament also takes place Sunday.

The big tent will be quiet on Monday and Tuesday as there are no events planned, but Wayout Wayne is slated to play in the small tent Monday and The Damm Band will play a variety of music in the small tent Tuesday.

While fishing for the main tournament continues on July 20, a special Honoring Our Veterans event is planned for 6 p.m. that is free to the public. The Pondhoppers will play in the small tent on the same night.

One of the most popular fishing attractions of the festival is the 33rd Annual Truly Ladies Classic on July 21. Once the tournament ends, a dance for teens takes place in the big tent, and Route 66 will jam in the small tent for the adults.

Local hard rock band Katharsys Theory headlines the Lakeside Palooza on July 22 and the Country Poorboys will perform in the small tent.

On July 23, the big tent will act as a concert arena, as the KISS tribute band, Detroit Rock City, will put on its face paint and platform boots for those who want to experience the over-the-top performance of the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame band.

On July 24, the final day of the festival, Tony burgers will be served in the big tent beginning at noon and the fishing tournament award ceremony starts at 6 p.m. The Randy Donakowski Memorial Car Show will also be held at the harbor on the same day.

Brown Trout Festival President Peggy Donakowski said she believes there is something for everyone and she expects large crowds to flood the boat harbor during the festival.

“It starts with the Bronk Bros to start and ends with a bang with the KISS tribute band and there is a lot of great entertainment in between,” she said. “It has been years since we had two big bookend events of this size in years.”

Donakowski said she expects there to be many entries into the various fishing tournaments this year. Early indications are that despite the high cost of fuel and rising prices of everything else, people will want to fish, Donakowski said, and enjoy the festival’s other offerings.

“The people are ready to fish and want to be out on the boats,” Donakowski said. “We don’t think we are going to see a decline in our entries. Registration is Thursday, so we’ll have a better idea of where we stand then.”

A complete list of fishing and entertainment events are listed on the Michigan Brown Trout Festival website: browntroutfestival.com.