HARRIS, Mich. (WZMQ) – The U.P. State Fair is just four months away. On Wednesday, organizers held a luncheon at presenting sponsor The Island Resort & Casino to announce this year’s lineup of entertainment and activities.
The midway will feature fan-favorite food and games, a new ride called Overdrive, interactive exhibitions, and Arestov’s Acrobatic Extravaganza. Returning attractions include the Strolling Piano, Robot Fair Play, and a daily dove release.
This year’s Grandstand entertainment includes new offerings like a cornhole tournament and UPW Uprising Wrestling. The musical acts scheduled to perform are Beatles tribute band The Fab Four, country artists Justin Moore and Diamond Rio, Pop Evil, and Indigenous hip hop group Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
Snotty Nose Rez Kids’ performance will coincide with Native American Day, which takes place on Thursday each fair week. For Hannah Meshigaud, Culture Manager for the Hannahville Indian Community, securing a Native act for the U.P. State Fair is an important accomplishment.
“I really do believe that representation matters,” she said. “The Snotty Nose Rez Kids come from a Tribe in British Columbia that is around the same amount of people that we have here. For our youth, our community to see a Native American performer on this stage, I feel like is really inspirational and motivational.”
In addition to all the entertainment announcements, much of the luncheon was spent highlighting the ongoing partnership between the U.P. State Fair and the Hannahville Indian Community.
“Hannahville has always been proud to be able to support and participate in the activities in Delta County,” said Kenneth Meshigaud, Chairperson of the Hannahville Tribal Council. “For many, many years, the Tribe subsisted on assistance and we got all of our help from the State of Michigan, the County, the agencies. They were always there for us. As we grew up and we started to develop, we said, ‘We’ve got to return that favor. We’ve got to become good partners. We’ve got to share what we can with our neighbors because we’re all in this together.”
The U.P. State Fair Authority is also excited about its partnership with Escanaba’s Upper Hand Brewery. Upper Hand is brewing a limited-release light lager, which General Manager Dakota Soule says highlights the local agricultural industry.
“Our brand is very much about outdoors, nature, natural resources, but we’ve never really done a beer that focuses on our agricultural industry and our farmers,” he said. “It kind of seemed like the perfect time to highlight the folks that provide us, frankly, all of our ingredients to our product. We are trying our hardest to make sure that it’s made with Michigan ingredients as much as possible. There is actually a local farm outside of Cooks, Michigan that we’re going to be sourcing most of our grain from, so not only is it Michigan, it’s very specifically Upper Peninsula.”
As this year’s theme—“Experience the Extraordinary”—suggests, there is much more in store for the 2025 U.P. State Fair. To check out the schedule of events and attractions, visit upstatefair.net and follow the U.P. State Fairgrounds Facebook page.
WZMQ 19 is a proud sponsor of the 2025 U.P. State Fair.
