Fisherman's Picnic

Fisherman’s Picnic is the largest annual event held in Cook County. The festivities take place the first weekend in August and includes street vendors, a street fair, kiddie rides, inflatables, live music, and more!

Heat of the Summer Got You Down? Cool Off on the North Shore!

The first weekend of August is generally a scorcher in most of the Midwest. Even on the North Shore, our temps tend to go up a little. However, relative to the rest of the region, our moderate temps and low humidity persist. This makes the first weekend of August the perfect weekend for a visit to visit the North Shore of Lake Superior, and the perfect time to throw a festival! Fisherman’s Picnic is that festival!

Known locally as Fish Pic, this is the big family-friendly festival in Grand Marais. There are activities for everyone 0f all ages. Celebrated annually for 9 decades, the town of Grand Marais truly comes to life for a weekend of fun and excitement.

Fisherman’s Picnic Activities

There’s live music with beautiful Lake Superior as the backdrop. Food trucks with a delicious variety of foods. Kiddie rides in the main downtown parking lot. Inflatables running down Wisconsin Street. Plus, booths featuring fine art, clothes, and other treasures from the area and around the state.

No matter your age, whether you’re a long-time resident or first-time visitor, you’re bound to have a great time during Fisherman’s Picnic.

So come to spend the weekend at America’s Coolest Small Town and experience how they do a community festival.

Fisherman’s Picnic Schedule

The schedule of events changes a bit year to year. You can find the official Fisherman’s Picnic schedule on the Visit Cook County website. But, in general…

Fish Pic kicks off each year on Wednesday night with the Old Timer Gathering at the Senior Center. Thursday generally starts with sales from local businesses in the downtown area while the food trucks and booths start rolling into town. The Thursday night street dance is always a huge hit! Friday and Saturday are fun-filled days that you can start off right with a pancake breakfast up at the Community Center. Then, head downtown for a day of fun in the sun with many activities to choose from. These include a medallion hunt, Bingo, minnow races, alumni baseball game, and more street dances featuring popular local bands. Saturday night brings a fireworks show over the Grand Marais Harbor.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon everyone lines up Broadway Ave and Wisconsin Street for the parade. Don’t forget to bring a bag for all that candy!

Getting There and Advice

Most activities take place in downtown Grand Marais. To get there, just take Highway 61 until you hit the town of Grand Marais and then head towards the downtown/harbor area. You can’t miss it!

If you want to attend Fisherman’s Picnic festivities- plan early! Lodging in the area starts booking up a year in advance and the entire county is usually booked up by summertime.