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The heat was definitely on for Ely’s biggest weekend of the summer.
Thousands of people turned out for the 44th annual Blueberry/Art Festival, which wound up last Sunday at Whiteside Park.
The three-day event was defined by at-times scoring heat and big crowds, although the former seemed to have an impact on the latter.
“I think traffic through the park was a little bit down compared to the last couple of years,” said Eva Sebesta, executive director of the Ely Chamber of Commerce. “We’re kind of guesstimating that it was due to the heat.”
For the first time in nine years, the Chamber-sponsored event operated at full capacity, with a whopping 262 vendors - including 237 arts and crafts booths and 25 more offering food and beverages - filling much of the city park.
The festival is always a draw, and the weekend once again resulted in heavy traffic in town and inside and around the park.
Yet the heat appeared to have a slight impact on turnout and even what those at the park opted to consume.
“In the food court, some vendors did really phenomenal and others not so much,” said Sebesta. “It seemed like folks who had lighter meal choices or things like ice cream were doing much better than those serving heavier foods.”
An initial, still ongoing survey of festival vendors, showed about half reported better business this year compared to previous years ago, with Sebesta indicating “a quarter were about the same and a quarter were down.”
“Overall I think it was really good,” Sebesta said of the weekend. “We had a really fantastic Sunday crowd. It was a better Sunday crowd, and I’m not sure if it was because folks didn’t come out in the heat on Saturday.” Sunday’s hours were cut short, with the park and festival closing at 2 p.m. rather than the scheduled 4 p.m. ending time, because of forecast for severe thunderstorms.
“It looked like something was going to hit us dead center around 3:30 p.m.,” said Sebesta.
The forecast was ultimately off, and Ely was spared a severe storm - in contrast to a 2021 thunderstorm that led to heavy damage in the park and the cancellation of the rest of the festival.
In its history, the Blueberry/ Art Festival has become Ely’s signature event and serves as the backdrop for the busiest weekend of the summer.
Blueberry weekend in Ely started humbly, with the festival once taking place on a downtown avenue before expanding to the park and taking off from there.
Always held on the last weekend of July, the festival fills the park along with lodging establishments and attracts vendors and visitors from across Minnesota and well beyond.
In addition to the festivities at the park, the Ely Senior Center played host to its Blueberry Bazaar, with vendors filling that building for a two-day event.
The Chamber also sponsored Operation Blueberry, which included sales, special events and featured products at downtown businesses.
As usual, the festival created a buzz, including reports on at least two Duluth television stations last weekend.
The Chamber is now turning its attention to its next major event - the Harvest Moon Festival slated for Sept. 6-8.
The Harvest Moon is in many ways a scaled-back version of the Blueberry/Art event.
“We’ve still got a few spots open but we had a lot of new folks for Blueberry who thought things were phenomenal and may be interested in coming for Harvest Moon,” said Sebesta. “I think we’ll be pretty close to being full, and there will be a little bit cooler weather so that may help with the crowds.”
