Go to the Registrations tab to complete on-line registration for all of the 2012 events or submit applications for vendor booths!

You can submit payment securely on-line through Pay Pal or send in your payment by check, either way your registration or applications can be submitted on-line!

Please email president@redflannelfestival.org or treasurer@redflannelfestival.org with any questions.

MICHIGAN VIETNAM MEMORIAL WALL, EUCHRE TOURNAMENT, AMERICAN LUMBERJACK SHOW & RED FLANNEL FLASHMOB!

The Red Flannel Festival Board of Directors has been working diligently to provide fresh new events for the 73rd “Deeply Rooted in Tradition” Festival celebration. “The board has added over 20 new events in the last few years and boasts over 3,200 fans on our Facebook page,” said President Michele Tracy-Andres. “This all volunteer board is extremely dedicated to ensuring the Red Flannel Festival the biggest and best ever! We’re already working on plans for NEW EVENTS for the 74th celebration in 2013!”

Again this year, the Festival has partnered with WLAV, 96.9 FM in Grand Rapids, for radio commercials; and the 730 television commercials will begin on various Charter cable channels in September, as well as billboard advertising. Over 10,000 of the beautiful, 36-page full color “Official Red Flannel Press” will be distributed in August, thanks to Festival Patron Sponsors. A donor program designed exclusively for individuals, “Friends of the Festival”, will return.

The American Lumberjack Show is back this year with an entertaining display of old-fashioned lumberjack skills, replacing the Fireworks Show. A NEW Euchre tournament will be held at the Grand Lodge, along with last year’s Cornhole tournament.

NEW this year is the Michigan Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall. The addition of the Memorial Wall enhances the tradition the Festival has in honoring Veterans. Annually, the Flap Jack Breakfast profits are donated from the Brown Family to the City for the Veteran’s Memorial Park via the Festival Community Share Program.

The Red Flannel Flash Mob is another NEW event this year. Organized by Social Media (Twitter, You Tube, Facebook) and mobile phone texting, a Flash Mob is a group of people who assemble in a public place for a brief time to perform a song, then disperse.

The NEW Firefighter Parade that debuted last year was a phenomenal hit and will be back again this year as an annual tradition.

“Of course, all of the traditional events are still in place,” said Andres. “The Queen Scholarship Pageant, Car & Tractor Shows, Museum Open House, Chili Cook Off, Bed Races and Grand Parade are wonderful “deeply rooted” traditions!” For a full schedule of events, or to download event applications, visit www.redflannelfestival.org.

The Festival was granted 501c3 non-profit status and all donations are tax deductible. The Festival is an independent, all volunteer organization with volunteer openings for individuals, families and groups to be involved. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. For more information on how to donate, volunteer or get involved with the Red Flannel Festival, call 616-696-2662 or visit www.redflannelfestival.org.

Red Flannel Stew

See Festival News for some great 2012 information!

Michigan Festivals Association Recognizes Red Flannel Impact

On behalf of Michigan Festivals & Events Association (MFEA), it gives me great pleasure and honor to have the Red Flannel Festival as an MFEA member since the beginning of the Association in 1994. As a member of MFEA, the Red Flannel Festival is getting vast exposure through the following MFEA publications/website:

• www.michiganfun.com – averages over 1 million hits monthly.
• Annual Calendar of Events Brochure – 300,000 are published and distributed throughout Michigan and the U.S.A. Major distribution points are Michigan McDonalds, Michigan AAA Branch Offices, Michigan Welcome Centers, Chicago’s AMTRAK Central Station and thousands of individuals sending in self-addressed stamped envelopes for the very popular vacation/weekend planning brochure.
• Annual Detroit Media Partnership Calendar of Events tabloid – 100,000 are printed and distributed in the Detroit Metro area on the last Sunday of April
• Annual Grand Rapids Press Calendar of Events tabloid – 114,000 are printed and distributed in the Grand Rapids area on the last Thursday of April
• New for 2011, Great Lakes Bay Magazine ran the MFEA festival/event listing in their Spring issue. 20,000 were printed and distributed in the Saginaw-Bay-Midland region.

 Festivals and events have the following economic benefits for their communities:

• Have a significant impact with minimum local expenditure
• Stimulate the economy and bring capital investment to a community
• 21% of U.S. adults attended a festival or event while away from home in 2010
• Festival travelers are younger, have children, extend their stays, and have higher annual income…everything is new and exciting to them!
• Provide a major tourism activity
• Attract new customers to local businesses
• Promote business year round
• Employ thousands of artists
• Promote and celebrate Michigan grown commodities
• Festivals and Events provide an opportunity for members of the community to discover, develop, and display their skills and talents by encouraging self-expression.
• Festivals and Events provide a showcase for new ideas in music, art, drama, crafts and sports.
• Festivals and Events increase community spirit and pride, while at the same time, broaden the cultural and recreational resources of the locality and emphasize its unity with the rest of the State and Country.
• Festivals and Events provide an opportunity to celebrate our history,     culture, harvests, heritage and vast array of unique waterways.
• Festivals and Events stimulate travel to a community and the surrounding region, thereby helping to correct regional disparities.
• Festivals and Events encourage the community to grow and prosper by attracting dollars to it in the form of tourism and, in some cases, new industry.
• Festivals and Events can bring a community together through both the planning of, and the attendance at the event, and will help to give the town a more “people” oriented identity.

 Michigan’s community festivals, fairs, special events, and destinations are a major element of the Michigan lifestyle and the entire tourism economy throughout our great state.  At MFEA, our charter is to provide membership, training, and resources to make these community functions fun, profitable, and a valuable development tool for our smaller communities. 

These events are invariably sponsored by local government entities and major community contributors, who continue to support them because of their inherent value to the state and economy.

The Red Flannel Festival has been in existence since 1939, they have given back to their community and state thousand times over and will continue to do so.

“Thanks to volunteers like you, worthy causes are supported, important events take place,

 our communities are  strengthened, and our lives are enriched.

We thank you for caring…and doing!”

Should you have any questions regarding community events, please contact me via phone, 989-845-3053 or email, sueb@mfea.org

Sincerely,

Sue Bila, CFEE

Executive Director