Charlevoix & Petoskey
Charlevoix
For boaters, beachgoers and first-timers: a harbor town where three lakes meet, with a summer drawbridge, a pier lighthouse and Earl Young's stone houses.
Festival · Family · Parade · Music · Charlevoix
Charlevoix Venetian Festival
A July festival in Charlevoix built around an evening boat parade, a street parade and fireworks over the harbor.
The Venetian Festival fills a week of Charlevoix’s July calendar with events meant to bring residents and visitors together. The organizer describes its mission as celebrating local heritage through family-oriented events.
The best-known pieces are on and around the water: a boat parade after dark on the final night, fireworks over the harbor and a separate fireworks and airshow evening. On land there is a street parade, a Kid’s Day, a farmers market at Ferry Beach and a block party on Bridge Street.
What to expect
The schedule runs for about a week and has included a boat parade, a street parade, a fireworks and airshow night, harbor fireworks, a Kid's Day, a farmers market, a Bridge Street block party and the Miss Charlevoix pageant, along with music and art programs.
Location
Where Charlevoix Venetian Festival happens
4 places on an OpenStreetMap map
The pin marks the town; check the organizer for exact venues.
About Charlevoix
Nearby attractions
Straight-line distances, not driving distances.
Attraction
Earl Young Mushroom Houses
Charlevoix's curving stone homes by self-taught builder Earl Young. They are private, so you see them from the street on a self-guided tour.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Lighthouse
Charlevoix South Pier Lighthouse
A red steel pierhead light where Charlevoix's Pine River Channel meets Lake Michigan, beside Michigan Beach and a favorite place to watch the sunset.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Beach
Ferry Beach
Charlevoix's family beach on Lake Charlevoix: a sandy swim area that deepens gradually, a playground, restrooms, a concession stand and three city pavilions.
About 1 miles away (straight line)
Places to stay nearby
Bed and breakfast
The Belvedere Bed and Breakfast
On Belvedere Avenue near Round Lake, Charlevoix
A Charlevoix bed and breakfast in a house built in 1887, formerly the Inn at Grey Gables, a walk from downtown, the lakes and the beaches.
Bed and breakfast
Bridge Street Inn
On Michigan Avenue, just north of the drawbridge in Charlevoix
A bed and breakfast in an 1895 Colonial Revival house that began as an overflow cottage for Charlevoix's Beach Hotel, a short walk from Lake Michigan.
Hotel · Mid-range
The Earl
On Michigan Avenue in downtown Charlevoix, a block from Round Lake
A redesigned boutique hotel in downtown Charlevoix with 56 rooms and suites, a lobby bar and a rooftop bar looking over Round Lake.
Inn · Budget
Weathervane Terrace Inn and Suites
On Pine River Lane in downtown Charlevoix
A downtown Charlevoix hotel designed by stone builder Earl Young, with stone turrets, a boulder fireplace and lake-view suites.
More events in and around Charlevoix
- Charlevoix Apple FestA free October weekend in downtown Charlevoix with orchard stands, a farmers market, an art and craft show, kids' activities and an apple pie eating contest.
- Charlevoix Waterfront Art FairA juried one-day art fair in East Park on the second Saturday in August, running since 1958 and one of the oldest in Michigan.
- Bay View Fourth of JulyBay View's old-fashioned Fourth morning: a children's bike parade, a parade through the cottage streets and a reading of the Declaration of Independence.
- Bay View Music FestivalA summer music festival in Bay View, billed as the longest continuously operating chamber music festival in the country, with Sunday vesper concerts.
- Blissfest Music FestivalA three-day folk, world and roots music festival with camping at the 200-acre Festival Farm outside Harbor Springs, held the second weekend in July.
- Boyne City Fourth of JulyA two-day Fourth in Boyne City with an art fair, a raft race on the Boyne River, a kids' bike parade and fireworks over Lake Charlevoix.