Jacksonport Celebrates 40 Years of Maifest

Talk about multi-tasking. Chewy Jauregui entertains a crowd at last year’s Jacksonport Maifest with his incredible cowboy rope tricks. Jauregui will once again perform for Jacksonport’s 40th annual Maifest celebration, taking place May 26 and 27.

Since 1973, Jacksonport has hosted Door County’s unofficial summer kickoff festival at Lakeside Park – Maifest. This year’s 40th annual Maifest celebration will take place May 26 and 27 throughout Jacksonport.

“Maifest is the start of the summer!” says Mary Seeberg of the Jacksonport Advancement Corporation, adding that the festival “is put on by a volunteer organization – there are no administrative costs. All the proceeds we spend on bettering the community: scholarships for Jacksonport children, the parks, the local 4-H. That’s what we’re about.”

The festival is also “very focused on family,” Seeberg says, listing off the various activities that “adults enjoy as much as children.”

Event highlights include the Maifest Parade and the Maifest 10K and 2-mile Fun Run; a juried arts and crafts fair, live music by Jerry Voelker & His Jolly Gents and The Modern Day Drifters, and kids activities will also take place. Food and beverages will be available all weekend.

One of the main events of the festival, the popular Frontier Farmers Horse Pull, will take place Sunday. The festivities will begin at noon with the singing of the national anthem, followed by a 4-H Horse and Pony Drill Team performance and a special trick-roping exhibition by Chewy, a local Door County resident known for his amazing cowboy rope tricks.

The horse pull will begin at 1 pm. Horse teams from around the Midwest will compete to determine which team of two draft horses can pull the heaviest load in this classic match-up of horse power (literally!) and team cooperation.

“It’s a tradition,” says Seeberg of the festival. “Some people are getting together for the first time this year, kicking off their summer.”

For more information, check out the events schedule or visit http://www.jacksonport.org/maifest.

40th Annual Jacksonport Maifest Celebration

• SATURDAY, MAY 26

Lakeside Park

8 am: Concession stand opens; brats, hot dogs, corn roast, and drinks.

8 am: Women’s Club stand opens; funnel cakes, cookies, pie, ice cream, and drinks.

9 am: Maifest Juried Art Fair, featuring 100 artists from around the Midwest.

10:30 am: Jacksonport 40th Annual Maifest Parade takes place on Highway 57 through Jacksonport. A presentation of the flag by V.F.W. Post 3088 immediately follows the parade.

Maifest Midway (in Lakeside Park)

11:30 am – 4 pm: Inflatable activities, including a variety of games and inflatable adventures.

12 pm – 4 pm: Pony Rides / 4-H Horse and Pony Project

Performance Tent (in Lakeside Park)

12 pm: Jerry Voelker & His Jolly Gents

Ballpark on County V, one block west on Hwy 57

9 am: Softball tournament games continue.*

• SUNDAY, MAY 27

Lakeside Park

8 am: Concession stand opens.

8 am: Women’s Club stand opens.

9 am: 10K Run & 2-mile Fun Run

9 am: Maifest Juried Art Fair opens.

Maifest Midway (in Lakeside Park)

11:30 am – 3 pm: Inflatable activities, including a variety of games and inflatable adventures.

Performance Tent (in Lakeside Park)

11 am – 3 pm: Modern Day Drifters

Ballpark on County V, one block west on Hwy 57

12 pm: National Anthem

12 pm: 4-H Horse and Pony Drill Team Performance and trick roping exhibition by Chewy.

1 pm: Frontier Farmers Horse Pull with teams from around the Midwest.

* Maifest softball tournament games will take place at the ballpark on County V from May 24 – 25 at 6:30 pm and May 26 beginning at 9 am.