Benzie & Sleeping Bear · Small town
Empire
Your first stop at Sleeping Bear Dunes: a small M-22 village with the park's main visitor center, a sunset beach and the start of the Heritage Trail.
Festival · Heritage · Parade · Family · Empire
Empire Anchor Days
Empire's mid-July weekend built around a ship's anchor found off the shore in 1977, with an open parade, a chicken dinner, a bonfire and a street dance.
Anchor Days celebrates the anchor that two canoeists spotted in Lake Michigan off Empire in 1977. Locals hauled it ashore, and it now sits at Empire Beach. The first celebration followed in 1978, and the Empire Area Community Center has run it since 2013.
The parade is the charm: no registration and no theme, so anyone can walk in it. Stay into the evening for the chicken dinner, the bonfire and the street dance.
What to expect
In 2026 the weekend opened with a Friday movie night about the town's history. Saturday brought a noon parade along Front Street that anyone can join without registering, a Lions Club chicken dinner in Johnson Park, a community bonfire with s'mores and a street dance in front of the library.
Location
Where Empire Anchor Days happens
4 places on an OpenStreetMap map
The pin marks the town; check the organizer for exact venues.
About Empire
Nearby attractions
Straight-line distances, not driving distances.
National park
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Dunes, high bluffs, beaches, inland lakes and two islands along 65 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline in Benzie and Leelanau counties.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Beach
Empire Beach
Empire's village beach on Lake Michigan at the foot of Niagara Street, with restrooms, picnic spots, a big playground and a view of Empire Bluff at sunset.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Scenic drive
Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
A 7.4-mile one-way loop in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with 12 stops and overlooks of Lake Michigan, the Glen Lakes and the dunes.
About 3 miles away (straight line)
Places to stay nearby
Hotel · Mid-range
Empire Lakeshore Inn
At M-22 and M-72 in the village of Empire
A 32-room inn in two buildings in Empire, one beside the Sleeping Bear Dunes visitor center and one in the village center.
More events in and around Empire
- Beulah Art FairA one-day July art fair in Beulah Park, steps from Crystal Lake, held the first Saturday after the Fourth of July.
- Frankfort Fourth of JulyFrankfort's Fourth of July week, with a daily medallion hunt, a morning parade, Art in the Park, a sandcastle contest and fireworks over Frankfort Beach.
- Glen Arbor Fourth of July ParadeA free-for-all Fourth of July parade from Glen Haven into Glen Arbor that anyone can join, plus an afternoon boat parade on Glen Lake.
- Glen Lake Woman's Club Art FairA one-day July arts and crafts fair at the Glen Arbor Township Hall that raises scholarship money for Glen Lake students.
- Leland Fourth of JulyLeland spreads the Fourth over two days: fireworks at Hancock Field Park around dusk on July 3, then an afternoon parade through downtown on the Fourth.