Flannel. Fall colors. Giant pumpkins. Beer. Sled dogs. A pie-eating contest. And, because that wasn’t enough, a lumberjack dating competition.
Houghton, Michigan is going all-in on fall this October.
The second-annual Canal Colors Festival takes over downtown Houghton Oct. 1-3, bringing several of the Keweenaw’s favorite fall traditions together for one packed weekend along the Portage Canal. The festival combines Plaidurday, Brew Street, the Keweenaw Color Run and Houghton Fall Fest, while adding new events, competitions and activities throughout the weekend.
Coordinated by Visit Keweenaw, the City of Houghton and Circle UP, formerly Keweenaw Young Professionals, Canal Colors was built around one of the Keweenaw’s best fall backdrops: downtown Houghton and the Portage Canal, where steep hills on both sides of the water turn with the season and reflect across the canal. Thank you to Michigan Tech University and Houghton High School for helping host the Friday afternoon Plaidurday Photo.
“Fall in the Keweenaw already puts on a pretty incredible show, so we figured we might as well throw a party around it,” said Jesse Wiederhold, Visit Keweenaw managing director. “Canal Colors takes events people already love, gives them room to grow and adds enough new stuff that you could spend basically the entire weekend downtown. We want this to become one of those weekends people put on their calendar every year.”
Plaidurday goes after Houghton’s 2023 world record: Friday, Oct. 2, starts with one very large goal: putting Houghton’s Plaidurday world record even further out of reach.
In October 2023, 1,745 people dressed in plaid packed Houghton High School’s football field for the Keweenaw Plaidurday Photo. Organizers are calling the community back to the field this year to try to top it.
Gates open at 1 p.m., with the official photo taken at 1:30 p.m. sharp. The Michigan Tech Pep Band will provide music, and attendees are encouraged to bring canned goods or nonperishable food items for a community food drive.
This year also adds the Keweenaw Color Run 100, a short sprint down the football field track. Eight plaid-clad participants will be randomly selected from interested attendees to race for $250 in Keweenaw Cash, sponsored by the Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce. Free plaid-themed merchandise will also be distributed while supplies last.
Brew Street gets bigger — and weirder: Friday evening, the party moves downtown.
Brew Street returns from 5-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, transforming Lakeshore Drive behind Keweenaw Brewing Company into a waterfront block party with live music, food trucks, yard games and Social District beverages.
Beautiful Problem performs from 5-7 p.m., followed by Chad Borgen & The Collective from 7-9 p.m.
This year, Brew Street expands beyond KBC with participating downtown businesses offering Social District drinks to-go, including Beviamo Vino and The Den. Participating fundraisers will benefit the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, including KBC, Beviamo and The Den donating $1 from every Social District pint sold during the event. More will be added.
At 7 p.m., Brew Street pauses for a second massive Plaidurday photo.
Then things get interesting. Enter: Lumberjack Lovin’. One of Canal Colors’ strangest — and potentially most competitive — new events debuts at 7 p.m. Friday. Sign ups are live now.
Lumberjack Lovin’ is part flannel fashion show, part competition, and part singles mixer.
Up to 10 single contestants, ages 21 and older, will strut through Brew Street and compete for the crowd in categories including Best Lumberjack Look, Best Beard and Best Lumberjack Pickup Line + Runway Approach.
A judging panel and crowd reaction will determine the winner, who takes home $400 in Keweenaw Cash. Every contestant receives a $10 Beviamo gift card before heading to Beviamo following the competition for an official photo, prize pickup and optional singles mixer.
And yes, attendees who like what they see may have a chance to go on a date with one of the lumberjacks. All adults and identities ages 21 and older are welcome to compete.
Friday also gets supersized with the Canal Colors Giant Pumpkin Contest, organized by Wolf’s Head Film. Locally grown giant pumpkins will take over the Houghton Pier throughout Friday and Saturday, with the heaviest earning its grower a $300 cash prize. The winner will be announced during Brew Street Friday evening.
Saturday packs the waterfront. Canal Colors isn't sleeping in Saturday. The Keweenaw Color Run kicks things off at 10 a.m. with an all-ages 5K run, walk, jog or frolic beginning on the Houghton Pier. Participants start with a group color toss before traveling through color stations along a route toward Prince’s Point, through Michigan Tech’s campus and back downtown along College Avenue. The Color Run is a fundraiser organized by Circle UP.
Then, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Houghton Fall Fest takes over the waterfront with live music, giant pumpkins, kids’ games and activities, free cider and donuts while supplies last and a lineup that could only really happen in the U.P. Big Goat Farms will offer free tractor rides throughout Fall Fest.
The Otter River Sled Dog Training Center and Wilderness Adventure team will bring sled dogs downtown for a meet-and-greet, giving visitors a chance to meet some future racers and learn how the dogs prepare for the CopperDog in March.
At 1 p.m., things get messy. Up to 10 contestants will face off in the Keweenaw Pie Eating Contest, sponsored by Range Bank. Competitors get five minutes to eat as much pie as possible, with a 30-second lightning round settling any tie.
The winner receives $400 cash plus a custom pie-themed leather piece created by Keweenaw leathermaker Dead Miners.
Pumpkin sales are also being planned for the event, giving visitors a chance to take a little piece of Fall Fest home for Halloween.
Start Thursday, explore all weekend. Canal Colors actually begins Thursday, Oct. 1, with pre-festival events on both sides of the Portage Canal.
ILO Creative hosts a Plaid Paint N’ Sip Night and wine tasting at Small Craft in Hancock from 6-8 p.m., while Beviamo in downtown Houghton hosts Plaid BINGO from 6-8 p.m. with Keweenaw Cash and plaid-themed prizes.
The Digital Plaidurday Passport also opens Thursday and runs through Sunday, Oct. 4, encouraging visitors to explore participating businesses, attractions and festival stops throughout the Keweenaw.
Passport locations include the Keweenaw Plaidurday Photo, Carnegie Museum, Houghton-Douglass Falls, Surplus Outlet, Prickly Pine, Quincy Mine & Smelter Tours and the Keweenaw Welcome Center. Participants who complete the passport will be entered for a chance to win Keweenaw merchandise. More spots may be added, stay tuned.
“We didn’t want Canal Colors to just be another event where you show up for two hours and leave,” Wiederhold said. “Come downtown Thursday. Wear plaid Friday. Stay for Brew Street. Run through a cloud of color Saturday morning, eat a donut, pet a sled dog, watch somebody inhale pie and then go explore the Keweenaw. There is a lot happening, but that’s kind of the point.”
Canal Colors Festival runs Oct. 1-3, 2026, with Digital Plaidurday Passport activities continuing through Sunday, Oct. 4.
Festival activities are centered in downtown Houghton, the Houghton waterfront, and Houghton High School. For the latest schedule, registration information and event updates, visit www.canalcolorsfestival.com.
All photos courtesy and copyright Visit Keweenaw, published with permission