EVENTS
The task of creating a FREE family friendly schedule of events is one we take great pride in. We focus on providing 'something for everybody' to enjoy. We hope you will take a look at the 2025 Schedule of Events and see just that.
This year you will notice the schedule has a combination of new and traditional activities. We invite you to get out and get involved. Try something new. Grab a friend and enjoy one of our traditional events. There is plenty to do. Most importantly, enjoy the weekend with us!
We welcome you to Carson City Frontier Days 2025!
To download a copy of our official festival booklet, click the link below.
To view the schedule:
Schedule
Community Picnic
Friday Night Kick-Off
The Community Picnic is our 'traditional' kick off of the Frontier Days festival. Friends, neighbors, and visitors from surrounding communities all come together at Haradine Park for good food and good fun. The 2025 Community Picnic will be exactly that.
We would like to thank The Muffin Top Bakery & Deli for taking on the entire Community Picnic this year! Please make sure you thank them for their efforts for helping to keep the tradition of the Community Picnic going!!
The Community Picnic will be held Friday, June 6th at 5:00 p.m. at Haradine Park. Gather your family, lawn chairs or a blanket and head to the park for a great evening of fun. Food will be served from 5:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.
While at the picnic you will be able to enjoy the beautiful walking trails or find a cozy spot on the banks of Fish Creek to catch up with family, friends, and neighbors. We will have our favorite D.J., Dave Klienhardt with us to play great music throughout the night.
Our annual Duck Race will take place at 6:30 p.m. down Fish Creek. Make sure you purchase a ticket or two from the Frontier Days staff for only $5. The ducks will begin their swim near the north bridge and the first three ducks that reach the covered bridge will be declared the winners and will receive a cash prize. There are a limited number of tickets, so make sure you get yours and join in the fun.
After dinner, we have great entertainment planned for you. Sit and listen to some great music, watch our first official mass hot air balloon launch of the 2024 Frontier Days Festival, and stay for the AMAZING hot air balloon glow. You won't want to miss this year's glow. We have created a new spin on our glow that we are sure you are going to LOVE!
The Community Picnic is always a great night for our community. It is a great way to bring the residents of Carson City together to celebrate. Haradine Park is the place to be on June 6th. There will be plenty of food and fun for everyone. We hope to see you there.
Everyone LOVES a parade!
One of the highlights of the festival each year is the Grand Parade. We are looking to make the 2025 Grand Parade one for the books. We invite the entire community to join us on Main Street for the parade. Grab your favorite spot along Main Street with your family and friends. It will be great fun for all in attendance.
The Grand Parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. This year the parade route will be from the corner of Linden and Willams Streets to Main Street. It will continue to travel down Main Street to the east and turn north at Michigan 1 Community Credit Union. The parade will end at Carson City-Crystal High School.
Parade line-up begins at 12:30 p.m. on Garfield Street. Please enter Garfield Street from Division Street. One of our amazing volunteers will be there to greet you, give you a registration form, and show you to your spot. No need to pre-register and there is no fee to join in the fun!
EVERYBODY LOVES A PARADE!
2025 Grand Marshal
When we were searching for the
Grand Marshal, we asked the community for nominees that give of their time, talent and energy to make Carson City a better place to live. Based on input from numerous community members, Amanda DooLittle has all of these qualities and more!
Amanda is a life-long resident of the Carson City area where she lives with her husband Justin and two boys Blakely and Brantly. She is a well-known, well respected, and well-loved person in our community. She goes above and beyond for her family, friends, community. She lifts people up with her kind words and actions. She continuously shows general love to, for, and about the community in which she lives.
Amanda found her passion of volunteering from seeing the people she looked up to making a positive impact in the community. She gives credit to people like Sue Lowe, Roberta Kile, Debbie McCrackin, Jill Postema, and Shawn Bollinger for inspiring her to give back to her community.
Amanda has spent years volunteering her time with the schools. Her time in the school started when her boys were little. She would volunteer in their classrooms, helping to serve breakfast, monitoring the playground, and helping teachers prepared for the day before she started her day job. She was heavily involved in the PTO from giving time to Friday Frenzy’s, popcorn popping, Christmas programs, and Book Fairs. Now she volunteers her time with sports boosters, concessions, and admission table at sporting events. She has even spent time as a proctor for state testing at the school. She was very involved in getting the word out for the lasy bond proposal for the school. Amanda’s volunteering doesn’t stop with the school. She is involved with the Crystal Chamber for events like the Easter Egg Hunt and Halloween Bash.
As a valued employee of Michigan One Community Credit Union,
Amanda is involved with many volunteer opportunities through them. She helps to organize the Hometown Holiday Parade we all love. Amanda spends hours promoting their Keeping Kids Kozy program from fundraising to adopt a family to helping local families in need. She makes it a point to be at events Michigan One supports like the Easter event, Touch Down sponsorship, free popcorn days, scholarship presentations, and so much more.
Amanda loves to give her time to the Frontier Days festival as well. She has served at the Community Picnic, worked at the festival tent selling Frontier Days swag, working kid’s games, the duck race, parade line-up, setting up for events, crewing for the hot air balloons, and being a valuable source of information for the community. This year, she has spent hours around the table planning for the 2025 festival.
We asked Amanda her favorite moments from volunteering. She responded, “ Volunteering at the schools. Being in a classroom to give hands-on attention and care to the children who are needing it the most. Seeing how excited and happy they are to work and be encouraged is amazing to see.”
We also asked Amanda why she does what she does for her surrounding community. She said, “That’s easy! It honestly brings me so much joy! I love that something so small can make such a big impact. Giving back really is part of my purpose in life. My greatest accomplishment will always be my children and I have always wanted to make sure they realize the importance of giving back. I don’t care what they choose to do in life as long as they are happy and are good productive humans. It is always more important to me WHO you become and HOW you act than WHAT (job) you do. It makes me proud to see my children giving back to help others like their momma.”
We are honored to have Amanda DooLittle as our 2025 Frontier Days Grand Marshal.
Events/Entertainment
Friday Frontier Days Fun
Food Trucks Return!
Food Trucks will be back for the 2025 festival. Food Trucks will be ready to fill your stomachs Friday, June 6, 2025 from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 7, 2025 from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Food Trucks will be located near the corner of Sherman Street and Division Streets. We invite the entire community to head downtown to enjoy the food from our visiting trucks. Grab a bite. There is something for everyone.
There will be a tent with plenty of seating for you to sit and enjoy the fabulous food from our visiting food trucks.
There are lots of great options for you.
The food trucks scheduled to come are:
GOOD TIMES GRIDDLE
BENNETT'S CONCESSIONS
TAQUERIA EL AZTECA
PAPA'S EATS, TREATS & CATERING GRUMPY'S FOOD TRAILER
THE DRIFT SNOW CO.
Music by Charlie Rockits
The 2025 Frontier Days festival welcomes Charlie Rockits on Friday, June 6th. Charlie will be singing at West Park near the Launch Field from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Bring your lawn chair and/or blanket and get comfortable to enjoy the show.
Charlie Rockits is a One Man Band. Playing oldies, Classic Rock, and classic Country.
5K Glow Run/Walk
Carson City Frontier Days and The Carson City Community Corporation are working together again to bring the 5K Glow Run/Walk to Frontier Days on Friday, June 6th. To get registered, please go to https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/CarsonCity/5kglowrunwalkcarsoncity. Participants are encouraged to pre-register prior to May 1st for $25. Packet pick up will be available on race day at West Park beginning at 6:30 p.m. Race day registration will be available at West Park for $30/individual or $50/family. Race day registration will begin at 6:30 p.m.
The race begins at 8:00 p.m. from West Park in downtown Carson City and travels through town before returning to the park. A FREE (no registration required) short kid’s Fun Run starts at 7:30 p.m. Live results for the race will be posted online after the race. Post race refreshments and commemorative gift will be awarded to the top three finishers in each division.
We would like to thank University of Michigan Health - Sparrow for sponsoring the event this year.
Saturday Fun
Frontier Marketplace Craft Show
The 2025 Marketplace Craft Show is packed with treasures. We have over 60 crafters/vendors signed up to come to our event. The
event will take place Saturday, June 7th from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The Marketplace will be along Sherman Street behind our downtown businesses. You will see many handmade crafts (woodworking, soaps, candles, glassware, wind chimes, pebble art, spices, candy, crocheted items and more), plants, books, and toys. You will see vendors from Origami Owl, Scentsy, Color Street, Paparazzi and more. There is such a terrific variety. Make sure you make your way to our visiting crafters to see what they have. We are sure you will find a treasure or two to take home.
Fun Zone
Saturday, June 7th will be packed with activities for kids of all ages. We have appropriately titled this area FUN ZONE. Activities will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (unless otherwise stated) FUN ZONE is located on the corner of Sherman and Division Streets.
We are happy to have the Farm Animals On The Go with us this year. This petting farm is out of Rockford and is making their first appearance at the Frontier Days festival. They will be here from with a variety of cute animals just waiting to meet you. Stop by and introduce yourselves and make a few furry friends. There will be feed for purchase for $1 at the petting farm for those of you who would like to offer your new furry friends a snack while you visit.
We will have some fun inflatables set up around the FUN ZONE. The first inflatable we have is a combination bounce house and slide. The Ferris Wheel will create hours of fun for all.
You will also find an interactive inflatables. This year we have Axe Throwing back. We all know axe throwing has become pretty popular so we are bringing the Axe Throwing inflatable to you. The game uses foam, vinyl and velcro ‘axes’. You will take your shot at throwing your axe to see if you can hit the bullseye. How accurate do you think you are?
We can’t wait to see all the friendly competition happening at these interactive inflatables.
The Sparkling Grotto will also be in the FUN ZONE for the day. Ariel will be with us to offer face painting, festival glitter, and glitter tattoos. These are available for anyone 3 yrs and older. Let Ariel add a little ‘sparkle’ to your life!
Visitors will also find an Escape Room Trailer to try. You will step aboard the world's first autonomous airplane. As you st out on your flight the airplane is struck by
lightning. You must repair the plane before time runs out. You will feel like you are on board a plane. The floor vibrates. There are airplane seats and a cockpit. Grab a few friends and head to the FUN ZONE and try out the Airplane Escape Room Trailer. We
are offering the Escape Room on Saturday, June 7th from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. See if you can beat the clock and save the day.
We also have Ben the Lego Man joining us Saturday, June 7th after the parade. He will be here from 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. under the tent in the FUN ZONE. He brings the legos and you bring your creativity. We can't wait to see what you all come up with!
We want to thank all of our terrific volunteers that helped to make FUN ZONE happen. We couldn’t do it without you!
Antique Tractor Show & Kid Pedal Pull
We are excited to off the Antique Tractor Show again for 2025. This event has been a very popular event last few years and we are hoping for a bigger and better event this year.
It will take place on Saturday, June 7th from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. in West Park (Fort Frontier). All are invited to participate. Registration will take place the day of the event. There will be door prizes for the event as well as awards in three categories. There is no entry fee - all are welcome. During the show, there will also be a Kid Pedal Pull event. There will be three age groups for the kids. Prizes will be awarded to the top three in each age group based on the pull. Again there is no fee for the pedal pull.
There will be a food truck on site for the event this year as well. It will open at 11:00 a.m. We hope you stop by and grab a bite to eat while you check out the tractors and cheer on your favorite pedal puller.
The community is invited to participate as well as take a stroll in the park to look at the tractors. I'm sure there are a few stories to tell as you walk through the tractors in attendance.
At the completion of the tractor show, all tractors and their owners are invited to participate in the Grand Parade at 1:30 p.m.
Please help us welcome our visitors to Carson City!
Car Show
We are proud to have the Frontier Days Car Show as part of our schedule again this year. The Car Show will return to Haradine Park on June 7th from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Cars will line up along the banks of Fish Creek. You will get to see an up close view of some amazing classic cars and trucks. Everyone will enjoy walking through the park admiring car after car. There will certainly be stories to tell.
If you have a vehicle that you want to enter to show off, registration begins at 8:00 a.m. at the park. To participate in the Frontier Days Car Show, there is a $10 entry fee. Dash plaques and goody bags will be provided for the first 60 cars registered. Door prizes and show honors will be handed out during the show.
There will be a food truck on site. It will open at 11:00 a.m. Grab a bite while you check out the participating cars.
All cars are invited to participate in the Grand Parade that begins at 1:30 p.m. Get your cars shined up and entered in the show!
Timber Art
We are excited to welcome Lonnie Glines, Sr to Carson City Frontier Days. Lonnie will be here to show off his expert skills at chainsaw carving. He will have three shows throughout the day on Saturday, June 7th. Show times are 10 a.m., 12 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. Each show will last approximately an hour. Stop by to watch Lonnie do some amazing carvings. At 4:00 p.m. come back to get a chance to win one of his carvings. All three of the carvings done on Saturday will be auctioned off. Will you be the lucky one to take one of these amazing carvings home?
Lonnie will also have a few carvings for sale throughout the day at his carving location. Please make Lonnie of Timber Art feel welcome!
Jigsaw Puzzle Contest
We are excited to host a new event this year. We invite you to grab a few friends and sign up for our very first Jigsaw Puzzle Competition. Teams will compete against each other to see which team can put together a 500 piece puzzle the quickest. The contest will take place Saturday, June 7th from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the Teen Center on Main Street.
- No more than four people per team
- Each team receives the same puzzle
- No one gets to see the puzzle until the timer begins – the puzzle boxes are placed face down before the competition starts
- Teams try to put the puzzle together the quickest
- If there is no declared winner by the end of the time limit, the winner is chosen by their remaining number of loose pieces
- In the event of a tie, individuals or teams can be given an additional five minutes to work on the puzzle
- Teams are not allowed to distract or approach team tables when the competition is in progress
Each member of the winning team will receive a prize.
Retro Lanes Bowling
Carson City Frontier Days and Retro Lanes are partnering together to offer FREE bowling for our community again this year. The event will be held from 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 7th. All are welcome to participate in the event. Depending on the turnout, there will be a time limit rotation so that everyone gets the opportunity to participate. Throughout the event there will be multiple prize drawings for participants.
We want to thank Retro Lanes for partnering with us to offer this great opportunity for our community! Be sure to thank them for their efforts.
Food Truck Fun
Food Trucks will be back on Saturday, June 7th to offer some great good for everyone to enjoy. The trucks will be here from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Food Trucks will be located in the parking lot directly behind the Shell Station at the corner of Division and Main Street We invite the entire community to head downtown to enjoy the food from our visiting trucks. Grab a bite. There is something for everyone.
There will be a tent with plenty of seating for you to sit and enjoy the fabulous food from our visiting food trucks.
There are lots of great options for you.
The food trucks scheduled to come are:
- GOOD TIMES GRIDDLE
- BENNETT'S CONCESSIONS
- TAQUERIA EL AZTECA
- PAPA'S EATS, TREATS & CATERING
- GRUMPY'S FOOD TRAILER
- THE DRIFT SNOW CO.
Corn Hole Tournament
The Corn Hole Tournament is back and better than ever. The Tournament will take place immediately following the Grand Parade on Saturday, June 7th at 2:00 p.m. in Grove Park. There will be a limit of 20 teams at $40 per team.
This is a totally free tournament and is open to all ages. Half of the entry fee will be paid as prizes to the top three teams. Grab a partner and get signed up early!
Entertainment by Kevin Schaffer
We are excited to have Kevin Schaffer back with us on Saturday, June 7th from 6p.m. - 9p.m.
Kevin will entertain us throughout the evening with the beautiful backdrop of the hot air balloons. If you attended one of his shows in the past, you know he puts on a great show.
Since 2015, Kevin, a West Michigan Native, has developed a mainstay in dozens of venues across greater Grand Rapids and along the shores of Lake Michigan. His musical influences range from artists like Johnny Cash and George Strait, to Jon Bon Jovi and Bob Segar, to bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Matchbox 20. While Kevin’s repertoire of covers and originals is bodaciously diverse, his sound can be summed up as the honest voice of the cowboy spirit at its core, with a touch of road worn gravel around the edges. Kevin will perform throughout the evening prior to the balloon flight and between the flight and glow. He will keep you entertained the whole evening.
Saturday’s entertainment is sure to put a smile on your face and a pep in your step. We can’t wait to see you all!
Frontier Fireworks
We are excited to be able to offer Fireworks again to our community. Saturday, June 7th, following the Hot Air Balloon Glow in West Park, the community will be able to enjoy the firework show put on by Small Town Saturday Night Fireworks. Make sure you bring your lawn chair or blanket down to the park to get a perfect view of the fireworks. The best place to view the fireworks is at West Park or Haradine Park.
What a 'Grand Finale' to our weekend festival!
Fireworks will go off rain or shine!
So Much To Do
Watch Balloon Race
Enjoy Family Friendly Entertaiment
Watch a parade
Craft Show
Applications
Frontier Days Queen
Craft show
2025 application