National Cherry Festival — Local services in Traverse City

I have heard so many things about this festival and was excited to attend. We were there Friday, July 5 from about 3-6 pm. It was not at all what I expected. I found the set up/design to be very cumbersome, as the rides and games were on one side of the (busy) street and the concerts/food/vendors on the other. I was very disappointed in the eating areas, as there was no shade to be found. The only saving grace was the tent set up by Bob the Plumber, which was air conditioned. There were no craft vendors; the food vendors seemed to be placed in a random fashion; the air dog show was too crowded to be comfortable; and the biggest disappointment was the beer tent. You had to purchase a "cherry pin" for either $3 or $5 just to enter the tent. These pins were a raffle. I don't think charging people to enter your tent, where you still pay full (over) price for a beer is good business. So we declined to partake. All in all, I would not go back. I do not understand how this is considered one of the 10 best festivals in the country. I'd rather just walk around the town of Traverse than participate in...

We normally drive a good 4 hours to get here every year, but we were very disappointed this year. They replaced all the vendor tents with a stage for musicians which was so sad! The main reason we come is to explore all the cherry products and of course to eat the best cherries we can usually get our hands on out of the whole year. There was only 1 vendor tent for cherry products, 1 tent for souvenirs, and 2 tents of the same brand for fresh cherries. The cherries were so small this year! We arrived back home and saw bucsh's had traverse city cherries. We were so disappointed to see that those cherries were bigger, plumper, sweeter and juicier than the ones at the festival! The air show was fabulous as always but bring ear plugs/ muffs for you and your little ones! Sadly if this how the festival is going to be from now on we probably won't be coming back for a few years. Love traverse city though. Such a beautiful town and the grand traverse bay is...

National Cherry Festival at Traverse City, Michigan all week long. Incredible air show with military and civilian aircraft to kick it all off, with the star performance of the US Navy Blue Angles. All hosted by the US Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City. Open ramp to see the various aircraft along with the City's Fire, law enforcement and lake rescue departments vehicles and personnel. The area of location is down town along the bay. It's the Bayview area. You won't regret the experience. Fun for all. Food. Canaveral rides, shopping and parades. A little heads up on the festival. June, July, August is the prime time for tourists. They come in from all over the world to take in the festivities and vacation. You must plan ahead for this. This years spectacular was three days of the US Navy Blue Angles. Next year it will be the US Airforce...