Labor Day Up North: Our Unofficial Goodbye to Summer
I’d make this less of an event guide and more of an Up North lifestyle piece. We can talk about what Labor Day weekend actually feels like here: busy campgrounds, boats on the lakes, ORVs on the trails, family cookouts, campfires and those last long evenings at the cabin.
Then transition into what comes next: salmon fishing, cooler mornings, hunting season, apples, fall color and eventually deer camp.
The closing line is already waiting for us:
Up North, we don’t really say goodbye to summer. We just make room for fall.
🗞️ Editor’s Desk — Labor Day Weekend Up North
We actually have a nice little local event calendar this week.
🎉 Brethren Days runs September 4–6 at Dickson Township Park in Brethren. It’s an annual family-oriented Labor Day weekend community festival right in the Manistee National Forest—exactly the kind of small-town event that belongs in The Up North Journal.
Brethren Days — Event Information
🏐 Down on Lake Michigan, Ludington hosts its Labor Day Beach Volleyball Tournament September 5–6 at Stearns Park Beach. Play starts at 9 a.m. both days, with men’s, women’s and coed divisions. Even if you aren’t playing, this would be a fun excuse for one last Labor Day trip to the beach.
Ludington Labor Day Beach Volleyball Tournament
🎣 September also means our outdoor calendar begins changing. Michigan’s early teal waterfowl season runs September 1–9. Then September 12–13 brings both the Liberty Hunt and Early Antlerless Firearm Deer Season. The Baldwin bear hunt period begins September 12, and rabbit, ruffed grouse, squirrel and fall turkey seasons begin September 15.
