Lapeer Area View

Lapeer Days parade returns with a rockin’ theme


LAPEER — The annual Lapeer Days Festival will return this summer, bringing friends, family and the community together for a weekend of fun in downtown Lapeer. Lapeer Days is the biggest annual event held in Lapeer County, and Michigan’s largest free festival. Among the attractions are carnival rides, games, vendors, live performers and entertainers and, of course, the annual Lapeer Days parade. This year’s festival is scheduled to take place Aug. 20-22 in downtown Lapeer and, after a year of COVID-19 restrictions, will bring back many of the crowd-pleasing events that the community knows and loves, including the annual Lapeer Days parade.

The official kickoff for the festival is Friday, Aug. 20, at noon, but the annual Lapeer Days parade, held downtown on Nepessing Street, will take place Saturday, Aug. 21, at 11 a.m. and this year’s parade theme will be “Lapeer Days Rocks.”

“After a year off due to the pandemic, we’re so excited to announce that Lapeer Days is back, and we’re hoping to bring back all the familiar favorites to make this year as fun as everyone remembers the festival to be,” said Neda Payne, executive director of the Lapeer Area Chamber of Commerce. “This year’s parade theme invokes the joy of our collective return to normal, celebrating the Lapeer Days tradition of great entertainment and good times for all. Parade participants are encouraged to decorate their entries and dress up their teams in the fashion of their favorite rock, pop or country artists – and get ready to rock the Lapeer Days Parade!”

The festival, which will host national headliner Uncle Kracker this year, will present live performers on stage starting Friday and continuing until Sunday evening. Friday night’s entertainment typically consists of country acts, while Saturday’s entertainment is geared toward rock. This year, however, Saturday’s headliner, platinum-selling artist Uncle Kracker, will give the crowd the best of both worlds. Set to perform on the main stage from 10:30 p.m. until midnight, courtesy of DTE Energy, Uncle Kracker will offer up hits like “Follow Me,” and “Drift Away.”

The Lapeer Days Festival is produced by the Lapeer Area Chamber of Commerce, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, with major sponsors View Newspaper Group, DTE Energy, Hurley Medical Center and Skerbeck Family Carnival..

Visit the festival’s website at www.lapeerdays.com for more information, including a full schedule, information on all entertainment and new events, entry forms, and vendor space applications.