Oh Ole Night parade and fireworks in downtown Grand Marais draws hundreds of attendees

Nov 28, 2022 01:29PM ● By Content Editor

All photos: Laura Durenberger-Grunow

By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - November 28, 2022

The "Oh Ole Night" parade and firework event drew hundreds of attendees to the annual event.

Photo: Parade-goers enjoy hot chocolate/coffee samples and cookies while waiting for the parade to start

Presented by Visit Cook County, the event happens the Friday after Thanksgiving in downtown Grand Marais. Kjersti Vick, Marketing and PR Director of Visit Cook County told Boreal Community Media that they estimated 400-600 people in attendance for this year's event. Free cookies from Crosby Bakery and coffee/hot chocolate samples from Joynes were provided.

The night kicked off with a parade of 16 different floats representing local groups/organizations including:

North Shore Health
Fire department
Buck's Hardware
Cook County Towing
Girl Scouts
Gunflint Mail Run sled dogs (races coming up January 7th)
"Just Us"
Siverton Gallery
Stone Harbor
Cook County Snowmobile Club Ridge Riders (complete with snowballs thrown into the crowd!)
Nativity scene
The Big Lake / Gunflint Mercantile

Cook County Towing was just one of the 16 floats in the parade this year

The parade, which started at the Grand Marais Senior Center on Broadway, looped twice around South Broadway, Wisconsin Street, and 1st Street, before ending at Harbor Park for the tree lighting ceremony.

On the second loop, awards were announced for different categories. Here is a list of the winners:

Traveling Gnome Award (Best Overall): Cook County Girl Scouts
Most Holiday Spirit: Cook County Towing
Biggest Float/Group: Cook County Snowmobile Club-Ridge Riders
Most Adorable Animal: Norwegian Elk Hounds Ruffin & Rania (Owners Mike & Tracey Servey)
Cutest Kiddo: Bucks Hardware
Best Scandinavian Theme: The Big Lake/Gunflint Mercantile

The 10ft+ tree in Harbor Park light up in white lights after a countdown from the crowd.

From there, attendees enjoyed a fireworks show over Grand Marais Harbor.

Those who were not able to attend weren't left out. Vick shared that Visit Cook County also brought back the Oh Ole Night radio broadcast with WTIP. The broadcast started during COVID, but has become a much beloved new tradition.