HOUGHTON, Mich. (WZMQ) – The competition for the largest gathering of plaid clad persons is really heating up. Houghton has officially participated in Plaidurday for only two years, but seems to draw the largest crowds, thanks to it’s plaid proud population.
There was plaid of all kinds Friday at Houghton’s Plaidurday Celebration. Nearly 1000 people glad to wear plaid showed up for the annual photo at the Houghton High School Football field. People came from great distances to be a part of this unique event. Jake Boehning came from Wisconsin to show off his Dad Plaid.
“It’s nice to get together with a bunch of people who really understand fashion and get to show it off one day out of the year. We love the city we drive here. It’s about a four hour drive here to celebrate platter day, and, you know, enjoy the rest of the sites around the area,” said Boehning.
Jesse Wiederhold from Visit Keweenaw says no records were broken today, as both Marquette and Ironwood saw less plaid clad people this year than last.
“So this year we did have a slightly smaller turnout, but we still had over 900 people, almost 1000 folks come down to the high school today for their plaid picture,” said Wiederhold.
There were pairs of plaid, dad and lad plaid, traditional black and red, Buffalo Plaid, all purchased from their favorite purveyor of plaid. This was also a celebration of all things UP, and for Gail Ross, it was a chance to see old friends.
“Today was fantastic. There was a ton of us, a ton of people that I knew, friends that I haven’t seen for a long time. So it was kind of fun just standing in one spot being part of something special,” said Ross.
In conjunction with Plaidurday, this year was the inaugural edition of “Brewstreet”, a new annual beer festival on the waterfront that honors the local breweries of the past. The festival took place on what was once known as Brew Street, where all the local breweries were once located.
And so another Plaidurday is in the books. but, always remember, the higher the latitude, the greater the Plaid-ittude!
