Houghton revives historic Potato Festival this Saturday

What’s happening: Houghton is reviving its historic Potato Festival on Saturday, October 24, celebrating the U.P.’s agricultural heritage with local food, live music, and family activities. The event features a historical exhibit at The Carnegie Museum followed by waterfront festivities, live performances, and the competitive Potato Games to crown local farming royalty. 

Potato farms: Many U.P. farmers are growing a variety of crops, including potatoes. Among them, Minnie Farms, is cultivating a variety of potatoes and working the Soil and Soul in a study with Michigan Technological University to adapt large-scale potato farming equipment for the small-scale farmer.  That research will be on display at the festival on Saturday.

Before the Depression, the majority of farms in the U.P. operated on a subsistence level. However, the Depression pushed an influx of people into agriculture, causing the number of area farms to surge from 1,840 in 1930 to more than 2,000 by 1935. While these were diverse, general farms rather than single-crop operations, potatoes were heavily championed by the Michigan State Extension Service, which supplied vital research, education, and resources to boost local profitability. Because regional growing conditions proved to be ideal, potatoes ultimately became the first—and potentially only—major export crop from the western U.P.

Festival history: The roots of the local festival trace back to October 1929, when the first Upper Peninsula-wide exhibition—originally named the Potato, Hay, Grain and Rutabaga Show—was organized in Escanaba with support from the local Extension Service. Recognizing the area’s agricultural potential, the Houghton County Extension Agent helped launch the first Houghton County Potato Show in Hancock in 1933, adopting a similarly broad focus on regional vegetables. These agricultural showcases became a cherished annual tradition, running continuously for decades until the late 1970s. However, the tradition came to an abrupt halt when the 1980 show was canceled after the local Agricultural Society learned that the Michigan Department of Agriculture could no longer provide the vital funding needed to finance the event.  The last incarnation of the current “Potato Fest” was held in 2007.

Event details: The day-long event kicks off at The Carnegie Museum with a local agricultural exhibit and free kids’ crafts until 4 p.m. Celebrations then shift to the Houghton waterfront pier from 3 to 7 p.m. for the “Potato Prowl” food vendor tasting, featuring live music from Daryn Reece and Bees!Bees!Bees!Bees!Bees!Bees! The single-day festival concludes with the high-stakes Potato Games at 6 p.m., where five community-nominated Keweenaw farms will battle for the title of Potato Royalty.