Michigan Travel · Upper Peninsula
Things to do in Marquette this weekend: the Fresh Coast Film Festival turns 10, with free lasers on the Ore Dock
MARQUETTE, Mich. — The Fresh Coast Film Festival opened its 10th year in Marquette on Thursday, Oct. 15, and the city’s Lower Harbor Ore Dock is glowing with laser art through Saturday night to mark it.
Fresh Coast Film Festival: The documentary festival, built around the outdoors, the water and the people of the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest, runs through Sunday, Oct. 18. Organizers list 94 films at 10 film venues, plus more than a dozen outdoor tours in and around Marquette County. Screening venues include Blackrocks Brewery, Ore Dock Brewing Co., Peter White Public Library, The Honorable Distillery and the Women’s Federated Clubhouse, according to the festival schedule. The outdoor tours come with a festival pass and have limited space.
Evenings at Basecamp: The free Fresh Coast Free kickoff, with Marquette food trucks, a bluegrass concert and 7 p.m. screenings, was set for Thursday at the Fresh Coast Basecamp tent in Mattson Lower Harbor Park. The tent hosts the film Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] at 7 p.m. Friday and “Adventure, Conservation, Inspiration: A Decade of Fresh Coast and friends” at 7 p.m. Saturday, the schedule says. After-parties follow at 9 p.m. Friday at Blackrocks Brewery and 9 p.m. Saturday at Ore Dock Brewing Co.’s The Station.
Tickets: Online sales have ended, but the festival says passes and tickets are still sold all weekend at its headquarters in the Marquette Commons, 112 S. Third St. The box office is open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Lasers on the Ore Dock: Fresh Coast Light Lab and Travel Marquette are projecting laser art onto the ore dock from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, starting about 20 minutes after sunset, according to the Pure Michigan event listing. This month’s show features guest artists and new works. The show is free. People can watch from their cars at Mattson Lower Harbor Park or walk the Lake Superior shoreline. Travel Marquette says its holiday laser shows run Thursdays through Saturdays from late November through December.
Madcat’s CARMa Quartet: The quartet plays blues, folk, jazz, world music and improvisation at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kaufman Auditorium, 611 N. Front St. The lineup is Peter “Madcat” Ruth, whom the listing bills as a Grammy Award winner, with John Churchville, Dan Ripke and Brennan Andes. Tickets are $20, or $15 for Northern Michigan University students.
Haunted hayride in Gwinn: Marquette’s Haunted Hayride runs through Saturday at the Marquette County Fairgrounds, 715 M-553 in Gwinn. Hours are 7:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, according to the hayride’s website.
Updated Oct. 16, 2026: The festival opened Thursday, so the opening-night details are now in the past tense, Thursday-only hours were removed, and the Basecamp tent’s Friday and Saturday evening programs and after-parties were added from the festival schedule.
Sources:
Fresh Coast Film Festival, “2026 Fresh Coast Film Festival Schedule,” accessed Oct. 15 and 16, 2026, https://freshcoastfilm.com/schedule/
Fresh Coast Film Festival, “Fresh Coast Film Festival Tickets,” accessed Oct. 15, 2026, https://freshcoastfilm.com/tickets/
Fresh Coast Film Festival, home page, accessed Oct. 15, 2026, https://freshcoastfilm.com/
Pure Michigan, “Lasers on the Ore Dock,” accessed Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.michigan.org/event/lasers-ore-dock-15
Travel Marquette, “The Ore Docks in Marquette, MI,” accessed Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.travelmarquette.com/things-to-do/arts-culture/ore-docks/
Pure Michigan, “Madcat’s CARMa Quartet,” accessed Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.michigan.org/event/madcats-carma-quartet
Marquette’s Haunted Hayride, “Tickets on sale Oct 1st,” accessed Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.marquetteshauntedhayride.com/tickets-on-sale-oct-1st
Photo: Chris Rycroft, “Lower Harbor Ore Dock, 2025.jpg,” Oct. 19, 2025, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lower_Harbor_Ore_Dock,_2025.jpg
More from Upper Peninsula
Sports · October 15, 2026
Negaunee hosts Houghton Friday, a week after losing a shootout to unbeaten Menominee
Four of the 4-3 Miners’ seven games have been decided by eight points or fewer. Houghton, 2-5, comes off a 12-7 win over Gladstone.
News · October 14, 2026
U.P. crews push Ridge and Craig Lake fires toward half containment; DNR takes Black River
As of Wednesday the Ridge Fire was 434 acres and 30% contained, Craig Lake 604 acres and 50% contained. The DNR also assumed management of the 382-acre Black River Fire near Wakefield.
News · October 14, 2026
Portage Lake Lift Bridge narrows northbound Oct. 19–21; M-80 near Kincheloe closes Friday for a $300K culvert
MDOT will repair non-structural damage from high-load hits on the Houghton–Hancock span by day, and close M-80 between South Gaines Highway and M-129 starting Oct. 16.
News · October 13, 2026
U.P. wildfire evacuations lifted as Ridge and Craig Lake fires settle
A Wednesday DNR update put Ridge at 434 acres and 30% contained and Craig Lake at 604 acres and 50%; the agency also took over the 382-acre Black River Fire near Wakefield.