For about 80 years the festival that celebrates all things cherry was king in Traverse City. In an area that depends heavily on tourism dollars the National Cherry Festival was the biggest show around.
Starting in 1925, cherry growers and some Traverse City merchants worked to promote the "Blessing of the Blossoms Festival," which had begun in 1910. They chose a queen, brought in the newsreel cameras and celebrated the little red fruit.
In 1926, the enterprising Hawkins Bakery began a tradition of creating a massive cherry pie and giving it to the President. In 1928, the celebration was renamed the Michigan Cherry Festival; in 1930, the festival grew to three days and featured an air show, boat races and President Herbert Hoover. In 1931, state lawmakers renamed the celebration The National Cherry Festival and it became an icon.
That's pretty much how things stayed until 2005, when filmmaker Michael Moore teamed up with some Traverse City friends and launched the Traverse City Film Festival. In just five years -- with a huge boost from the total rehabilitation of the State Theatre -- it has grown in numbers and reputation to the point where it is beginning to rival the cherry festival.
In 2008, the film festival broke the 80,000 admissions mark and 52 filmmakers took part in question-and-answer and other sessions all about film. The festival now shows films in six venues, including a giant outdoor screen at the Open Space. This year the festival will feature 71 features and 50 short films from more than 30 countries.
Beyond those numbers the film festival has done wonders for Traverse City's downtown, where restaurants, bars and shops all report doing tremendous business. It's no secret that downtown sometimes doesn't get much of a bounce from the cherry festival. The film festival, however, is all about downtown.
Six years ago, another new arrival burst on the scene. Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival, which began as a relatively low-key event created by Dean and Alex Rheinheimer, has exploded into a month-long series of competitions featuring more than 1,500 horses at an 80-acre show complex off Bates Road in Acme Township.
The event has been given the highest rating allowed by the United States Equestrian Federation. Riders and horses win points at Horse Shows events that count toward year-end titles and national events; $395,000 in prize money will be awarded during this year's event.
In all, they say, Horse Shows has pumped an amazing $30 million in tourist dollars into the local economy.
Obviously, summer in Traverse City isn't a one-festival or even two-festival season anymore. The cherry festival starts on July 4 this year and runs through the 11th. Horse Shows by the Bay will run from July 8 through Aug. 2. The film festival runs six days, from July 28 to Aug. 2.
July has gone from being a big month for tourism to a monster, and it shows no signs of slacking. The cherry festival is the old veteran on the block, and its numbers are relatively consistent, at least within a range that depends largely on the weather and the air show lineup.
The film festival and Horse Shows by the Bay haven't even been around for 10 years but both are among the best at what they do. The film festival is getting national and international recognition; Horse Shows is drawing owners and riders from across the country.
If the Grand Traverse region has been spared the worst of the current recession, that's due at least in part to the three festivals and the cash they have poured into the local economy.
Yes, it can be sometimes difficult to get around town, the restaurants are often full to overflowing and some cherry festival and film festival venues are tough to get into.
But that's light years better than the alternative.
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