Michigan Travel · Sault Ste. Marie
Things to do in Sault Ste. Marie Oct. 23–24: LSSU’s Great Lake State Weekend, Oozeball and Downtown Fall Fest on Ashmun Street
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — Lake Superior State University’s homecoming, Great Lake State Weekend, takes over the Soo Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23–24, and downtown is throwing a fall festival of its own on Saturday.
The tradition dates to 1995, and this year’s schedule centers on the Laker hockey home opener against Bowling Green both nights. Here is what is open to the public.
Friday, Oct. 23. Laker volleyball hosts Purdue Northwest at noon in Bud Cooper Gymnasium. A pre-game picnic runs 5 to 7 p.m. on the lawn between B Lot and Easterday, and the puck drops at 7:07 p.m. at Taffy Abel Arena.
Saturday, Oct. 24, on campus. The GLSW 5K Fun Run, hosted by LSSU’s Kinesiology Club, starts at 9 a.m. at the Norris Center. The Barch Center for Freshwater Research and Education opens its Discovery Center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the School of Engineering & Technology’s Engineering Expo and Design Competition runs 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the CAS Building. Volleyball faces Ferris State at 2 p.m. Oozeball, volleyball in the mud, runs 3 to 5 p.m. on Cooper Field, followed by a tailgate from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Student Activity Center and hockey at 7:07 p.m. The 11:30 a.m. Alumni Awards and Hall of Fame ceremony is sold out.
Saturday, downtown. Downtown Fall Fest runs noon to 8 p.m. along Ashmun Street, with local vendors, a bounce house, pumpkin painting and a Sault High basketball fundraiser. Ashmun will be closed in front of participating businesses. Free vendor spaces are first come, first served; call Caity Woolcocks at 906-630-3837.
Saturday night, for a cause. The Chippewa-Luce-Mackinac Community Action Agency’s “A Night of Hope & Home” Halloween Masquerade runs 5 to 11 p.m. at Kewadin Casino, Hotel and Convention Center, raising money for emergency shelter and housing programs. Tickets are sold online.
LSSU says events may be added or changed; the full schedule and ticket links are at lssu.edu/glsw.
Sources:
Lake Superior State University, “LSSU Invites Community to Celebrate Great Lake State Weekend, Oct. 23-24,” 2026 (history, events), https://www.lssu.edu/lssu-invites-community-to-celebrate-great-lake-state-weekend-oct-23-24/
LSSU Alumni Relations, “Great Lake State Weekend 2026” (times and locations), https://alumni.lssu.edu/great-lake-state-weekend-2026/
Sault Ste. Marie CVB, “Downtown Fall Fest,” https://saultstemarie.com/event/downtown-fall-fest/
Sault Ste. Marie CVB, “‘A Night of Hope & Home’ Halloween Masquerade,” https://saultstemarie.com/event/a-night-of-hope-home-halloween-masquerade/
Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri, “2009-0618-LSSU-Admin.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009-0618-LSSU-Admin.jpg
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