The Les Cheneaux Islands held a harvest weekend Oct. 8–11

CEDARVILLE, Mich. — The Les Cheneaux Islands Chamber of Commerce brought back its Harvest Festival in Cedarville and Hessel from Thursday, Oct. 8, through Sunday, Oct. 11, The St. Ignace News reported. It was the festival’s second year, and most events were free and open to everyone.

It was also the chamber’s last public event of the year, coordinator Jeni Roosen told the paper. “With the summer tourist season winding down people have a chance to breathe now,” she said. Roosen said she hopes to bring back the feel of a Halloween festival the Les Cheneaux Community School held in the 1980s and 1990s.

The weekend started Thursday with bingo at the Hessel School House from 5 to 8 p.m. On Friday, Patrick Harrison, known as the “Lord of the Gourd,” was scheduled to carve pumpkins at the Les Cheneaux Community Library from 1 to 4 p.m. The schoolhouse showed “Hocus Pocus” for free at 6 p.m. Seating was limited to 80, so people were asked to sign up ahead, according to The St. Ignace News.

Saturday began at 10 a.m. with the Great Apple LCI Bake Off, where local businesses brought their best apple treats. Kids could join a scavenger hunt at the Peek-a-Boo trailhead from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., paint pumpkins at the Les Cheneaux Historical Museum from noon to 2 p.m. and play games at Snows Heritage Park from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., a Haunted Trail ran on the park’s Storywalk Trail. Admission was $5, with the money helping students pay for a fall college tour. Several local bars ran an Apple Drink Trail all weekend.

Sunday opened at 10:30 a.m. with a dog costume walk and contest at Cedar Cove Assisted Living. The dogs were to visit residents first, then walk through downtown Cedarville. The Great Pumpkin Soup Cook Off ran from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Clark Township Fire Hall. Anyone could taste, and votes cost $5 each, with the money going toward a new fire hall. At 2 p.m., a self-guided off-road vehicle color tour left Snows Heritage Park on trails toward Bay City Lake and Pickford, the paper reported.

The chamber’s own listing gave the main festival days as Friday through Sunday. It also listed a stein hoisting competition, local food vendors, artisan markets and live music at spots around the islands, and it advised visitors to dress for fall weather.

Updated Oct. 12, 2026: The festival took place Oct. 8-11. This guide was published before them, and its schedule language has been changed to the past tense.

Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The headline and summary were changed to the past tense for events that have already taken place.

Sources:
Erich Doerr, The St. Ignace News, “Les Cheneaux Harvest Festival is October 8-11,” Sept. 29, 2026, https://www.stignacenews.com/articles/les-cheneaux-harvest-festival-is-october-8-11/
Les Cheneaux Islands Chamber of Commerce, “Harvest Festival”, https://www.lescheneaux.net/events/harvest-festival
Photo: Gpwitteveen, “Hessel Bay,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hessel_Bay.jpg

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Tags: The Straits · Michigan Travel · Parks and Recreation · Halloween · Pumpkins and Corn Mazes · Things To Do