Elk Rapids Harbor Days

08/31/2026

The 2026 Elk Rapids Harbor Days Grande Parade brought the streets of downtown Elk Rapids to life with colorful floats, music, creativity and plenty of community spirit!

A huge congratulations to this year’s winners:

🏆 Best Motorized: The Huttenlocher Family Fire Truck
🏆 Best Non-Motorized: Elk Rapids Youth Cheer, Cherryland Middle School Cheer and Elk Rapids High School Varsity Cheer teams
🏆 Best Classic Vehicle: Allis Chalmers Tractor, beautifully restored in red, white and blue in honor of America’s 250th Anniversary
🏆 Best Commercial Business: Art and Connection
🏆 Best Instrumental: ShortStop
🏆 Most Creative: The MacGregor Family
🏆 Best Float: Village Market

Thank you to everyone who participated, volunteered and lined the streets to celebrate one of Harbor Days’ favorite traditions!

Photography by ShaeMarie Photography

08/25/2026

The competition was ON at Elk Rapids Harbor Days, and we’re continuing our winner announcements with two crowd-favorite contests!

🏖️ Sand Sculpture Contest
🥇 1st: Team McMuellers — Spider-Man
🥈 2nd: The Clueless Minions! — Minions
🥉 3rd: Digging Dads and the Little Elks — School Pride

🚒💦 Fireman's Waterball Contest
🥇 1st: Joe Fischer and Chris White — Elk Rapids Fire Department

From sandcastles to waterball battles, these teams brought their A-game! 👏 Congratulations to all of our winners, and a huge THANK YOU to everyone who competed!

08/23/2026

🍦A Sweet Showdown!🍦

Contestants came ready to dig in during this year's Elk Rapids Harbor Days Ice Cream Eating Contest, sponsored and hosted by Ice Cream Peddlers, and they didn’t hold back! With spoons flying, ice cream disappearing, some brain freeze and plenty of cheers from the crowd, it was one deliciously entertaining competition.

🏅Congratulations to this year's winners:
16 and older: Sage Brown
9–15-year-olds: Griffin Oklat
8 and under: Luke Jones

Thank you to everyone who joined the fun and helped make this event a Harbor Days favorite. We’re already looking forward to next year’s showdown! 🍨

08/18/2026

What a spectacular ending to Elk Rapids Harbor Days! 🎆

The Zambelli Fireworks lit up the sky over Elk Rapids with an unforgettable show. Thank you to everyone who helped make this community tradition possible and to all who came out to celebrate with us!



Photography: ShaeMarie Photography and Mallory Szczepanski

08/16/2026

08/15/2026

📰 We made the cover!

The latest issue of Elk Rapids News features a recap of the 71st annual Elk Rapids Harbor Days and the community spirit that makes this festival so special!

Thank you to Elk Rapids News and our amazing volunteers, sponsors, partners and everyone who joined us for four unforgettable days. We couldn’t do it without you, and we’re looking forward to next year’s festival, August 4-7, 2027.

📖 Read the full article and see more photos from Elk Rapids Harbor Days:https://www.elkrapidsnews.com/uploads/2/7/3/1/27317065/frontpage8_13_26.pdf

08/14/2026

08/12/2026

🚘 86 CARS. ONE UNFORGETTABLE SHOW. 🚘

The Elk Rapids Harbor Days Summer Car Show, co-hosted and sponsored by Fischer Insurance Agency, Inc, was bigger than ever this year, with 86 incredible cars rolling into Elk Rapids! From classic cars and vintage icons to trucks, imports and modern favorites, the lineup had something for every car enthusiast.

Congratulations to this year’s award winners:

🏆 Best in Show: Vern Barker — 1966 Pontiac GTO
🏆 Best in Show Runner-Up: Mike Fischer — 1972 Lamborghini Espada
🏆 Best Modern: Jason Lawes — 2018 Dodge Challenger
🏆 Best Classic: Jason Sutter — 1969 Dodge Charger
🏆 Best Antique: Tom VanPelt — 1956 Oldsmobile Super 88 “Dunesmobile”
🏆Best Truck: Weston Hubbell — 1979 Ford F-150
🏆 Best Import: Brett Altman — 1967 Volkswagen Bus
👑 Queen’s Choice: Jim Veliquette — 1989 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
🏆 Rick Young Memorial Award: Jeff Dennis — 1973 Ford Mustang

A huge thank you to every car owner, spectator, volunteer and organizer who helped make this our biggest Summer Car Show yet. We’re already looking forward to next year's car shows—stay tuned for more information! 🚗💨



Photography by: ShaeMarie Photography

08/11/2026

08/11/2026