Nothing says summer in Ely more than Ely’s signature summer event: the Blueberry/Art Festival.
From humble beginnings, the arts and craft show has become one of the community’s greatest attractions and one of the Iron Range’s largest summer events.
And this year, it seems bigger than ever with Ely Chamber of Commerce officials revamping the alignment in Whiteside Park to make room for more vendors than at any time since prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Presuming Mother Nature cooperates, the weekend promises to be busy.
While some events come and go, the Blueberry/ Art Festival has held up over time and is fast approaching a half-century.
It’s an event local business folks can rely on, knowing that the town will swell with people, and potential customers, and lodging as always will be at a premium.
The festival itself always offers a nice mix of returning vendors and those who are coming to the festival for the first time.
Many shoppers look forward to seeing what the annual vendors have on display and there’s always a unique set of new offerings as well.
Nobody should go hungry and the festival food court has so many tasty offerings it often requires a return trip - or several - just to taste all that’s for sale.
The beer garden offers a place to cool off, and for years, the festival has provided a marketplace to local non-profits trying to raise badly- needed funds.
All in all, Blueberry/Art Festival weekend in Ely is a win-win for all involved, from the vendors to local businesses who enjoy increased traffic and sales as a result.
Yes, we said traffic and yes at times the weekend brings something unfamiliar to Ely: traffic jams and sometimes struggles to find parking spots.
But it’s only for a few days, and it’s an inconvenience we can put up with given the many benefits of the festival.
Once the festival winds down next Sunday, there will be just a brief respite, as by the following Wednesday, there will be another caravan of vehicles and traffic entering Ely for that week’s American Legion Baseball Division II State Tournament.
An entirely new audience - hundreds of baseball players, coaches, officials, family members, and friends - will be in town for that four-day extravaganza, and in some ways, it will serve as an extension of Blueberry/Art weekend.
Hats off to the Ely Chamber of Commerce, as well as those putting on the baseball tournament.
Your efforts will liven the community for not one, but two weeks, and serve as a thrilling climax to the summer in Ely.
