Relax, play, and learn in celebration of local fresh water at Lake Superior Day from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 16, on Barker’s Island in Superior. Enjoy free fun for all ages, live music, kids’ activities, stand up paddle boarding, information booths, and food vendors, all focused on appreciating the Great Lake.

Music performances start at 11 a.m. with the poetic roots-rock of Teague Alexy. At 1 p.m. the Gemstones Honoring AfroGeode perform an eclectic and genre-defying set with heavy roots in Jazz, Soul, and Funk. Organizations from throughout the region help visitors dive into Lake Superior learning. New this year, people can make “bawa’iganaakoog” (wild rice harvesting sticks) with the 1854 Treaty Authority and the St. Louis River Wild Rice & Habitat Restoration team.

Additionally, a children’s activity tent features puppet crafting of Lake Superior or St. Louis River life. Lake Superior Day attendees can visit the Lake Superior Estuarium, take tours of a new rescue airboat from the City of Superior Fire Department, and pay half-price admission on the SS Meteor for tours of the last above-water whaleback ship in the world. A free raffle features prizes donated from local businesses, including Zenith Bookstore, Northwest Outlet, DEFY Trampoline Park, Super One Foods, Bluetick Design LLC, and more.

Food vendors include Superior Cubans, Sweeden Sweets, and the American Indian Community Housing Organization’s Giinawiind Gigintaawigi’igomin: Together We Grow Program.

The Lake Superior Day event is outdoors along sidewalks and on mowed, grassy lawns at Festival Park and the Lake Superior Estuarium (3 Marina Drive, Superior, Wisconsin), both on Barker’s Island. Learning booths will be under large event tents. Restroom facilities include portable toilets and accessible single-user restrooms inside the Estuarium. The event is free to attend – paid portions include food purchases and SS Meteor tours. Additional information is available online or contact Luciana Ranelli at 715-399-4085.

Prior to the main event, help take care of Lake Superior as part of the Wisconsin Point Spotted Knapweed Pull happening from 9-11 a.m. Additional information and registration is available online.

Also in the morning, North Shore Stand Up Paddleboarding hosts the sixth annual Paddle for the People 4K recreational paddle race around Barker’s Island. The race is free and begins at 10 a.m. with mandatory check in from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Participants may register online.

Lake Superior gives people much to celebrate. It is the cleanest, coldest, and clearest of the Great Lakes. The largest lake by surface area in the world, it fuels local shipping, commercial fishing, and recreational industries while providing clean drinking water. Every day, each of the 600,000 human residents of the Lake Superior basin use water from the lake for drinking, home use, industrial use, or recreation. The lake is essential for countless fish, birds, animals, and plants.

This year’s Lake Superior Day event in Superior is coordinated by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve operated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Division of Extension in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the following partners: the City of Superior, University of Wisconsin-Superior, The Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, North Shore SUP, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Sea Grant, and the 1854 Treaty Authority. The event is graciously sponsored by the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and City of Superior. Come enjoy the festivities in appreciation of the lake.