Mackinac & Straits
Mackinaw City
The base for the Straits, beside the Mackinac Bridge at the tip of the Lower Peninsula, with a reconstructed colonial fort and ferries to Mackinac Island.
Holiday · Heritage · Family · Mackinaw City
A Colonial Christmas
A December evening at Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City, where lantern-lit paths, storytellers and crafts recall how the fort's 17th- and 18th-century residents kept the holidays.
Each December, Mackinac State Historic Parks opens the reconstructed fort at Colonial Michilimackinac for an evening built around the holiday traditions of the people who lived there in the 1600s and 1700s. Lanterns line the paths through the fort after dark.
Inside, storytellers describe how earlier residents marked the season, and the church of Ste. Anne is set up as it might have been for an 18th-century Christmas Mass. There are crafts to make, period games for children on the Parade Ground, and holiday snacks around the site. It is a ticketed event, so plan ahead.
What to expect
Storytellers share the holiday customs of the fort's past residents and retell the story of the first Christmas at Mackinac in 1679. Ste. Anne's Church is arranged for an 18th-century Christmas Mass, families can play historic games on the Parade Ground, and visitors can make a craft to take home. Tickets are required.
Location
Where A Colonial Christmas happens
4 places on an OpenStreetMap map
The pin marks the town; check the organizer for exact venues.
About Mackinaw City
Nearby attractions
Straight-line distances, not driving distances.
Lighthouse
Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse
The 1892 castle-style lighthouse just east of the Mackinac Bridge, with restored keepers' rooms, a tower you can climb and a shipwreck museum.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Historic site
Colonial Michilimackinac
Mackinaw City's 18th-century fort and fur trading village, rebuilt from historic maps and one of the longest-running archaeological digs in the country.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Bridge
Mackinac Bridge
The five-mile suspension bridge that carries I-75 across the Straits of Mackinac between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, open since November 1, 1957.
About 2 miles away (straight line)
Places to stay nearby
Hotel · Budget
Baymont by Wyndham Mackinaw City
In central Mackinaw City, within walking distance of downtown and the ferry docks
A chain hotel in central Mackinaw City within walking distance of downtown shops and the Mackinac Island ferry docks, with an indoor pool.
Bed and breakfast
Deer Head Inn
On Henry Street in downtown Mackinaw City
A bed and breakfast in a restored 1913 Arts and Crafts home, among the oldest houses in Mackinaw City, a short walk from the island ferries.
Hotel · Mid-range
Holiday Inn Express Mackinaw City
On Louvigny Street near the Mackinac Bridge in Mackinaw City
A chain hotel near the Mackinac Bridge that lists year-round stays, an indoor pool, free hot breakfast and shuttles to the Mackinac Island ferries.
Listed as open all year.
More events in and around Mackinaw City
- Mackinac Bridge WalkThe Labor Day morning walk across the Mackinac Bridge, starting from St. Ignace or Mackinaw City while the bridge is closed to public traffic.
- Mackinaw City Fourth of July FireworksA large Fourth of July fireworks show at Conkling Heritage Park, the headline of Mackinaw City's summer fireworks nights.
- Memorial Weekend PageantMackinaw City's Memorial Day weekend: a parade to Colonial Michilimackinac and free reenactments of the events of 1763, with hundreds in the cast.