Festival of Sail makes return this weekend
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ALPENA -- Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary has combined two of its previous July events to bring the Thunder Bay Maritime Festival of Sail to Alpena this weekend.
The festival begins at 10 a.m. on Friday at Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, featuring tall ships, the World's Largest Rubber Duck and her "baby," live music, helicopter rides, kids' crafts, chalk art, ROV tank demonstrations, bounce houses, face painting, historical and scientific demonstrations, food vendors, and more.
Admission to the festival is free, but there is a cost to tour and sail on the tall ships. Live music will be provided by Song of the Lakes, La Compagnie, and The Scholastic News. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
"There's going to be so much happening," Stephanie Gandulla, resource protection coordinator for Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, said. "We're going to have helicopter rides for $40, the largest duck again, and then she's bringing her baby."
Mama Duck is making her second trip to Alpena, having visited last summer for the first time. She is six stories tall, almost 80 feet wide, and weighs about 15 tons.
Along with Mama Duck, new this year is her "little" baby, which is still about 10 feet tall.
In addition to the hard-to-miss giant yellow ducks, historic tall ships will be docked in the Thunder Bay River behind the Maritime Heritage Center, including the Appledore. The Niagara will not be able to come to the festival this year, but Gandulla said they were working on getting another tall ship in addition to the Appledore.
"We're going to have some live art demonstrations," Gandulla said, adding that there will be many children's activities, including ocean and Great Lakes-themed crafts.
Gandulla is excited about the musical entertainment lineup.
"They've got a good following," Gandulla said of Song of the Lakes.
Michael Sullivan of Song of the Lakes said they have been to Alpena many times before performing at the Maritime Festival, which was previously held during the Fourth of July weekend.
Last year, the first Festival of Sail was held in mid-July, and this new festival is a combination of the two, and will continue to be held each summer.
Song of the Lakes, based out of the Traverse City area, has performed internationally in Sweden and Ireland, and throughout the U.S.
They have performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival three times, which is a world-famous festival in Switzerland.
"You could call it folk music, but we like to call it Great Lakes world music," Sullivan said. "We do songs from Great Lakes tradition. There's a whole body of song related to adventures on the Great Lakes. Shipwreck songs, stories about different events on the lakes."
The band has been together for 41 years, and also includes Ingemar and Lisa Johansson. They will be joined this Saturday by talented percussionist Rob Mulligan.
"We're lucky to have him," Sullivan said.
Their original percussionist, Rick Jones, died in 2020.
"We've written a great deal of music inspired by life on the lakes and life in Northern Michigan," Sullivan said. "We've been referred to as the ambassador of the Great Lakes."
Sullivan said they perform on a tall ship every Wednesday night in Grand Traverse Bay.
"We're lucky to have The Scholastic News, very popular in the community -- great music, too," Gandulla said. "And then, La Compagnie, and they do great stuff, too."
The Scholastic News is an Alpena band with Nick Lusardi on sax, Cameron Stevens on drums, Connor Caplis on guitar, and Kyle Draper on bass.
La Compagnie Musical Dance Troupe, founded in 2007 by Genot Picor, features French Canadian and Celtic folklore, music and dance representing North America.
Festival food vendors include Nowicki's and Uncle Mike's food trucks.
"We're excited to be bringing another free event to the community that celebrates our rich maritime history," Gandulla said, adding that the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center will be open with free admission during the festival.
For more information, visit thunderbayfriends.org.