The National Cherry Festival is an annual food festival in Traverse City, Michigan. Traverse City has been nicknamed the "Cherry Capital of the World", as the Grand Traverse Bay region is a cherry growing hotspot.[1] The festival, which was established in 1925 as the Blessing of the Blossoms Festival, was renamed to the National Cherry Festival in 1931, and has been held each year since (with cancellations from 1942–47 and in 2020).[2][3]
History
Traverse City cherries
In 1839, Revered Peter Dougherty, a Presbyterian missionary, established a Native American mission at present-day Old Mission, near the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula.[4] In 1852, Dougherty planted the first cherry trees, which flourished, much to the surprise of locals, who began to plant trees themselves. The first commercial cherry orchard was established in 1893. By the beginning of the 20th century, Traverse City, as well as much of the Lake Michigan shoreline, was the center of a well-established cherry-growing industry.[1]
Festival history
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.[5] In 1931, the Michigan Legislature renamed the festival to the National Cherry Festival, and moved to July.[2] 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.[6]
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.[7]
In 2021, the festival garnered national attention when on July 8, a Magic Carpet ride at the festival's midway malfunctioned and began to lean and sway. Bystanders rushed to the ride and held it down by its guardrails until the ride came to a stop. No serious injuries were reported, and shortly after, the ride was dismantled.[8][9][10]
2020 postponement
In 2020, Festival Officials announced on Thursday, April 16, 2020, that the 90th National Cherry Festival was to be postponed until the following year.[11] This postponement was in light of global health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival restarted in 2021.
