Holiday Harbor Village festivities kick off December 1 in Grand Marais
The first weekend of Dec. in Grand Marais arrives with karaoke, sauna sessions, and a frozen fish toss.
That is a small sampling of this weekend’s numerous holiday festivities for the first annual Holiday Harbor Village event in Grand Marais.
The downtown business coalition, a small group of business owners in Grand Marais, began crafting the idea of the festive holiday event during the winter of 2022. “So we decided, hey, let’s try this out,” Abby Tofte, one of the organizers and owner of The Big Lake, said. “Let’s see if we can do some fun Grand Marais specific events. And the response has been great.”
“There’s so many different events within the event that is going to make it really fun to be involved with,” Tyler Dean, the owner of Ben Franklins and co-organizer of the event.
The holiday festivities begin the morning of Friday, Dec. 1, with free gift wrapping at Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply. Then, an opportunity to meet and pet goats, enjoy a sauna session in the Grand Marais harbor and soak in some ‘katieoke’ tunes at Up Yonder in the evening.
On Saturday, Dec. 2, individuals can shop for handmade holiday gifts from local artists at Studio 21 and the Art Colony Founders Hall. Followed by pictures with Santa at Gunflint Mercantile and an opportunity to meet Sawtooth Racing sled dog team members at Joy & Co. At 3 p.m., frozen fish will fly through the air as the frozen fish toss competition begins at The Fisherman’s Daughter.
“I’m really excited to be a part of this project,” Tofte said. “It just feels like all of these locals and families are coming together to support this event.”
She added, “It makes me feel so proud to be a part of this community and part of this business community.”
Find the full list of the Holiday Harbor Village events here.
WTIP spoke with the two organizers of the Holiday Harbor Village event, Abby Tofte and Tyler Dean about the festivities. The audio from the interview is below.
Kalli Hawkins November 30, 2023
