CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich — One of Michigan's longest running festivals is back for its 84th year this Saturday.
The 2023 Red Flannel Festival returns to Cedar Springs on Saturday, Oct. 7.
And while the official festival doesn't start until Saturday, there are also events on Friday, Oct. 6 including a book sale, carnival, firefighter parade and a party at the Red Flannel Grand Lodge Friday night.
On Saturday, the festival is in full swing with a flag raising ceremony, flapjack breakfast, pie eating contest, parades, tractor pull, lumberjack show and much more.
The festival takes place throughout Cedar Springs and you can find a list of the events and a festival map here:
The festival's roots date back to 1936 when a New York feature writer wrote “Here we are in the midst of an old-fashioned winter and there are no red flannels in the USA to go with it."
The 1936 winter was particularly brutal, being called "the worst winter in years", and while that New York writer couldn't find any red flannels, the Cedar Springs Clipper newspaper had the answer.
Owners and editors Nina Babcock and Grace Hamilton wrote an editorial in response saying “Just because Sak’s Fifth Avenue does not carry red flannels, it doesn’t follow that no one in the country does. CEDAR SPRINGS’ merchants have red flannels!”
The story was picked up by the Associated Press and it resulted in orders for the red flannels coming in from all over the country.
A few years later in 1939, a "Red Flannel Day" was celebrated in the fall and the rest is history.
You can find all of the details for the festival at RedFlannelFestival.org.
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