Benzie & Sleeping Bear
Frankfort
A beach-and-lighthouse harbor town: a Lake Michigan beach at the end of Main Street, a breakwater light off the sand and Point Betsie up the shore.
Holiday · Parade · Family · Arts · Frankfort
Frankfort Fourth of July
Frankfort'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.
The Fourth of July is Frankfort’s biggest week. It starts days early with the Medallion Hunt, when the chamber releases a clue each morning until someone finds the prize.
The holiday itself is a full day: the parade in the morning, Art in the Park in Mineral Springs Park, a sandcastle contest on the beach in the afternoon and fireworks over Frankfort Beach after dark. Book rooms early, and check the chamber’s schedule for the year.
What to expect
The chamber's Medallion Hunt releases a new clue each morning in the days leading up to the Fourth. On the Fourth itself, recent schedules have had a 10 a.m. parade, Art in the Park in Mineral Springs Park with more than 65 artists, a sandcastle contest at Frankfort Beach in the afternoon and fireworks over the beach after dark. The fireworks are funded by donations.
Location
Where Frankfort Fourth of July happens
4 places on an OpenStreetMap map
The pin marks the town; check the organizer for exact venues.
About Frankfort
Nearby attractions
Straight-line distances, not driving distances.
Historic site
Garden Theater
Frankfort's 1923 Main Street movie house, renovated and run by a nonprofit, showing first-run and independent films and home to the Frankfort Film Festival.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Beach
Frankfort Beach
Frankfort's public Lake Michigan beach and playground at the west end of Main Street, with restrooms, ADA walkways and the piers and lighthouse in view.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Beach
Elberta Beach
A quieter, mostly natural Lake Michigan beach across the harbor from Frankfort, running about a half mile south from the Elberta pier. Plan ahead.
Under a mile away (straight line)
Places to stay nearby
Resort
Chimney Corners Resort
On the north shore of Crystal Lake near Frankfort
A family-run resort on Crystal Lake that has hosted guests since 1935, with cottages, apartments and rooms in a historic lodge and a listed season of May through October.
Resort
Harbor Lights Resort
On the Lake Michigan beach in downtown Frankfort
A beachfront resort hotel in downtown Frankfort on the site of the Royal Frontenac Hotel, which the Ann Arbor Railroad opened in 1902.
Hotel · Mid-range
The Hotel Frankfort
On Main Street in downtown Frankfort, two blocks from Lake Michigan
A boutique hotel with 17 themed rooms on Frankfort's historic Main Street, two blocks from the Lake Michigan shore, with its own restaurant.
More events in and around Frankfort
- Holly Berry Arts and Crafts FairA holiday arts and crafts fair hosted by the Frankfort-Elberta Area Chamber of Commerce in late November.
- Beulah Art FairA one-day July art fair in Beulah Park, steps from Crystal Lake, held the first Saturday after the Fourth of July.
- Empire Anchor DaysEmpire'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.
- 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.