Lumberjack Days in Stillwater

Ahh, summer in “The Cities” is so much fun.  Every weekend, maybe even every day, there seems to be something fun happening.  This weekend is no different, and the festivities even got a jumpstart!  Lumberjack Days kicked off yesterday in Stillwater!

The festival has been Stillwater's signature event since 1934.  It’s a showcase destination for fans of concerts on the St. Croix River, fireworks displays, and Stillwater's logging heritage. As many as 60,000 people attend each year!  It started a day earlier than usual and continues through Sunday evening.

The festival takes place near the Stillwater Lift Bridge, which closed recently for repairs. However, the bridge has been reopened through the weekend to accommodate for Lumberjack Days.

The festival has undergone some experimentation since 2004.  Throngs of crowds came to see Lynyrd Skynyrd.  The city of 16,000 residents was inundated.  Reacting to concern that the festival had become too big for Stillwater, the City Council approved guidelines in 2005 to make the festival a tamer event. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t still plenty of fun to be had!

Today’s events include lumberjack competitions, bike and skateboard competitions, a treasure hunt, and “hometown night” with Uncle Chunk and Martin Zellar on the floating stage.

On Friday, Splatter Sisters in the park, concerts with Shook Twins, Soul Asylum and BoDeans on the floating stage, and of course, lumberjacks will be featured.

On Saturday, there will be pancakes in the parks, sidewalk sales, road races, an artists showcase, pie-baking contest, concerts with Corey Carlson, Al Jardine’s Endless Summer Band, Boz Scaggs, and what else but Lumberjacks?

Finally, on Sunday there will be a ecumenical church service, pancake breakfast, authentic 1860s baseball, grand parade, Swedish meatball night, jazz band, Abbamania on the floating stage, fireworks, and – you guessed it! – lumberjacks!

But there’s more! Much more!  I couldn’t possibly include it all here.  For a complete schedule, go to www.lumberjack days.com.

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