What's on in Mackinac Island, United States through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Rule

  No motor vehicles

  1 Jan – 31 DecClosures

  Cars have been banned since 1898, so everything moves by horse, bicycle or foot, including the luggage and the rubbish. Bring shoes you can walk eight miles round the island in. Source ↗

Still on: Winter shutdown (1 Nov – 25 Apr (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter shutdown (1 Nov – 25 Apr (usually))

Busy — Spring break in United States

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter shutdown (1 Nov – 25 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Opening

  The horses come back

  20 Apr – 15 May · usuallySummer season opens

  Several hundred working horses are barged over from the mainland farms in spring and go back in late autumn, so the drays, taxis and everything that comes with them arrive inside a fortnight. Source ↗

• Opening

  Island season opens

  25 Apr – 20 May · usuallySummer season opens

  Ferries go back to a full schedule and the hotels reopen through late April and May, a few at a time. Early May is cold, half-shut and the only time the island is empty and open at once. Source ↗

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter shutdown (1 Nov – 25 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  Grand Hotel's season

  1 May – 31 Oct · usuallyOff-season shutdownClosures

  The big porch hotel opens at the start of May and closes at the end of October, and the rest of the island's rooms run a similar window. Outside it there is almost nowhere to stay at all. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Black fly and stable fly weeks

  15 May – 15 Jul · usuallyInsect season

  Black flies in late spring, then biting stable flies along the shore from midsummer, worst on a still afternoon. It is a fortnight or two of long sleeves and repellent, and then it passes. Source ↗

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), The horses come back (20 Apr – 15 May (usually)), Island season opens (25 Apr – 20 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Lilac Festival, Summer break in United States

• Festival

  Lilac Festival

  1–16 Jun · usuallyWildflowers & bloomsCrowdedBook early

  Ten days in early June around lilacs that are well over a century old, ending in a horse-drawn grand parade. The island smells of it and the hotels are full for the fortnight. Source ↗

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Hotel's season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Black fly and stable fly weeks (15 May – 15 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — High summer, The Mackinac yacht races

• Season

  High summer

  1 Jul – 25 AugSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Fifteen thousand day visitors can land on a good July day on an island of five hundred residents. Main Street is a crush until the last ferry leaves and then it is quiet again. Source ↗

• Festival

  The Mackinac yacht races

  10–30 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Two of the oldest freshwater distance races in the world finish here in July, from Chicago and from Port Huron. The harbour fills with boats and the town with crews for both weekends. Source ↗

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Hotel's season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Black fly and stable fly weeks (15 May – 15 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — High summer, Mackinac Bridge Walk

• Festival

  Mackinac Bridge Walk

  30 Aug – 8 Sep · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Tens of thousands walk the five miles across the straits on Labor Day morning, which closes the bridge and fills every room in St Ignace and Mackinaw City. It has run since 1958. Source ↗

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Hotel's season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), High summer (1 Jul – 25 Aug)

Peak crowds — Mackinac Bridge Walk, Summer break in United States

• Nature

  Fall colour

  25 Sep – 20 Oct · usuallyAutumn colour

  The hardwood on the island's interior turns in the first half of October, the day-trip crowds are gone and the carriage roads are yours. Book before the hotels shut for the winter.

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Hotel's season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Mackinac Bridge Walk (30 Aug – 8 Sep (usually))

Busy — Somewhere in Time weekend

• Festival

  Somewhere in Time weekend

  20 Oct – 1 Nov · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The Grand Hotel's costume weekend for the 1980 film shot here, held in late October just before the season ends. Period dress, screenings, and the last full house of the year. Source ↗

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Grand Hotel's season (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Fall colour (25 Sep – 20 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Somewhere in Time weekend, Thanksgiving break in United States

• Closure

  Winter shutdown

  1 Nov – 25 Apr · usually

  The hotels, shops and most restaurants close and the ferries stop when the straits ice over, leaving a few hundred residents, a plane from St Ignace and an ice bridge in a good year. Source ↗

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Somewhere in Time weekend (20 Oct – 1 Nov (usually))

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: No motor vehicles (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter shutdown (1 Nov – 25 Apr (usually))