The Mighty Puddingstone Gets its Own Special Weekend

Summer time in Northern Michigan means one thing - festivals. OK, it also means fudge, great sunsets and, in some places, black flies, but you've got to admit, we have festivals for everything. (Check out my prior post on Calumet's PastyFest.) So I guess it was just a matter of time before we got a festival for the exalted Puddingstone.

August 9-11 the Cheboygan County History Center is presenting its first ever Puddingstone Festival.

Never heard of puddingstones? Where have you been, hiding under a rock?

The festival's website states that the Pudding Stone is a

unique, highly collectible stone conglomerate. It was named so by the British on St. Joseph’s Island in the St. Mary’s river in the 1700’s because of its resemblance to their native boiled suet pudding. It is found in only a few states, Ontario and England! In fact it is the official State Stone of Massachusetts. Cheboygan County just happens to be blessed with a vast number of them, ranging in size from tiny pebbles to huge boulders.

I guess they should know, its their festival.

[For a little more history and puddingstone lore, see what the folks on Drummond Island have to say.]

The festival should be a great rock'em sock 'em event, complete with exhibitors, puddingstone judging, a Stones Rock concert, the Stone Soup story dramatized by local youth and a Straits area geocaching event.

Can't wait for the festival? We have a great selection of puddingstones and puddingstone art items at the Northern Michigan Artists Market in beautiful Downtown Petoskey.