UPCOMING EVENTS
Annual Plow Day at Buchanan School Farm
Date: Saturday, April 26, 2025
Time: 8:00am – 2:00pm
Location: School Farm, 3588 Andrews Rd., Buchanan, MI 49107
- Pancake Breakfast
- Plowing
- Crafts
- Pedal Pulls
More Information @ Website; email: [email protected]
Plow Day at St. Clair County Farm Museum
Date: Saturday, May 10, 2025
Time: 9:00 – 2:00pm
Location: Goodells County Park, 8310 County Park Dr, Goodells, MI 48027-1400
Come participate or be a spectator as we begin field preparation with vintage tractors. Experience a blast from the past!
Bring your tractor and equipment and help prepare the fields for planting.
Plow Day at Ruby Ellen Farm
Partnering with Northwest Michigan Draft Horse & Mule Association
Date: Sunday, May 18, 2025
Time: 11:00am – 4:00pm
Location: 5946 S. Center Hwy, Traverse City, MI 49684 (Bingham Township in Leelanau County)
- Big horses pulling old farm implements
- Wagon rides
- Demonstrations
- More
Museums and gift shop: 11am-1pm & 2-4pm
Information: Website, (231) 590-9304
Michigan Steam Engine & Threshers Club 66th Reunion
Date: July 25 – 27
Location: Show Grounds, 1895 Hull Rd., Mason, MI 48854
- Steam engine and antique tractor shows
- Flea market
- Demonstration
- Food concessions
- Daily parade
Fall Harvest Days
Date: August 22-24, 2025
Location: St. Clair County Farm Museum, 8310 County Park Dr., Goodells, MI 48027
- Car and tractor show
- Demonstrations
- Rodeo
- Music performances
- Flea market, craft and food vendors
Michigan Flywheelers Antique Engine & Tractor Show
Date: Sept. 4 –7, 2025
Location: 06285 68th Street, South Haven, MI 49090
- Daily equipment parade
- Flea market
- Kids activities
- Shingle mill/saw mill demonstrations
- Live entertainment and jam session in Stephenson Barn
Fall Family Days
Date: Sept. 6 – 7, 2025
Time: 8:00am–5 :00pm
Location: Thumb Octagon Barn at 6948 Richie Rd, Gagetown, MI 48735
- Craft & flea market
- Exhibits
- Demonstrations: gas engine, saw mill, field work, blacksmith, etc.,
- Children’s activities
- Food building featuring Farmers Breakfast and Fri. Night Fish Dinner (Sept. 5, 4-7pm),
PAST EVENTS
Williamstown Twp. Harvest Festival
Date: Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024
Hours: 11am to 4:00pm
Location: Williamstown Twp. Community Park, 525 E. Grand River between Zimmer and Meridian Roads
More Information: www.williamstownmi.gov
Come celebrate the fall season at the 3rd Annual Williamstown Township Harvest Festival featuring live music, food trucks, family activities, and more. This is a free, family-oriented event that includes a mini petting zoo and pony driven-cart ride hosted by M&Ms Farms, professional kite flying demonstration provided by Kites and Fun Things and an apple cider press demonstration presented by Flore Orchards. The Michigan Barn Preservation Network exhibit will be on display.
Waterloo Farm Pioneer Day
Date: Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, 10am-5pm
Location: Waterloo Farm Museum, 13493 Waterloo Munith Rd., Grass Lake, MI 49240
Contact: (804) 596-2254
This celebration of late 19th century farm life includes:
- Tours of the Farm Museum, Dewey School
- Live music
- Demonstrations of crafts, trades and traditional cooking methods
- Vendor booths and concession stand.
Last year, the MBPN Teamwork & Timbers model barn was erected and displayed.
Fall Family Days
Date: Sept 7-8, 2024
Location: Thumb Octagon Barn, 6948 Richie Rd., Gagetown, MI 48735
The Thumb’s premier barn festival is held the weekend after Labor Day. It kicks off with the Fish Fry on Friday night, followed by two days of family events on Saturday and Sunday. The MBPN exhibit and timber-frame model barn are on display.
Information is posted at the Museum’s website and Octagon Barn Facebook Page. Registration is required for kids 10 and up who want to build the model barn in August. Contact MBPN member Rose Putnam, who co-chairs the event for Friends of the Thumb Octagon Barn, at 989-444-9574.
Farm the Zeel: Tractor Show and Farm Festival
Date: June 22, 2024
To celebrate the Zeeland Historical Society’s designation of 2024 as the “Year of Agriculture,” a festival about the area’s agricultural heritage was held in the parking lot of First Reformed Church in Zeeland on June 22. In addition to food and fun activities, it featured 31 tractors on display and the Michigan Barn Preservation Network’s pop-up exhibit. With agricultural land and properties being rapidly developed in Ottawa County, the exhibit raised awareness about the value historic barns bring to the community and sparked an interest in preserving local agricultural heritage.
Sleeping Bear Dunes Barn Restoration Workshop
Date: June 10-14, 2024
Location: Kropp Farm, 12 miles north of Glen Arbor and 5 miles south of Leland on M-22 near Townline Road.
For the 28th year, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore park maintenance staff hosted a “hands-on” barn restoration workshop to teach techniques and train barns owners and those interested how to do restoration work on timber and frame structures. With Wood Framing for Walls, Roof, and Floor and Siding Repair as the focus, there were opportunities to do door and window repair, small stair construction and more.
Details: There is no cost to participate. The workshop begins on site at 9:00 a.m. each day. Participants should wear boots, gloves, and bring a sack lunch for each day that they attend. Participants can sign up for any number of days.
Camping is allowed on site during the workshop for all registered participants interested in doing so. Amenities are provided, including access to showers at park campgrounds.
Interested for next year? Contact the historical architect, Kimberly Mann: Call: (231) 326-4771; email: [email protected].
Celebrating National Preservation Month at Leelanau County Poor Farm
Date: Saturday, May 27, 2023
Location: County Road 616, west of Maple City in Myles Kimmerly Park, a Leelanau County Park.
Contact: [email protected]
“Save the Poor Farm Barn” preservation efforts of the last few years:
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- Meet the contractors and volunteers who have done the barn and grounds work.
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- Learn about Row x Row nonprofit who handles the vegetable garden and assists with distribution through local pantries.
Activities include:
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- Small group barn tours
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- Draft horse demonstrations (discing, harnessing and wagon rides)
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- MBPN Barn Exhibit, Leland Historical Society Museum’s new Model A and more from local history museums
Hadley Homestead Harvest Days – Farm Hop and Festival
Date: Saturday, Sept. 16, 2022
Location: Hadley Mill Museum, 3633 S. Hadley Rd, Hadley MI (Lapeer County)
The Farm Hop is designed for familites, history bufrs and those who simply want to revisit old America. Equipped with a map, guests on the this self-guided tour enjoy an engaging perspective of several area properties integral to farming in this region.
Michigan Virtual Barn School: The Basics
Presenters: MBPN Technical Committee – Steve Stier, Tammis Donaldson and Stephanie White
Host: Michigan Historic Preservation Society – Mallory Bower
For more information about Barn School Workshops, click here.
Barn School Field Workshops
Participants spent a Saturday assessing the condition and stability of a barn to determine its needs. They learned about barn architecture, construction, maintenance and repair approaches.
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- Sept. 14 in Northern Michigan (Wexford and Kalkaska counties): Workshop included a stone repointing demonstration. Instructors: Steve Stier and Tammis Donaldson.
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- Sept. 28 in Grass Lake (Jackson County): Projects included closing a gap in the basement foundation wall and adding a support column at a rotted beam connection. Instructors: Tammis Donaldson, Stephanie White and Steve Stier.
To inquire about future Barn School programs, contact: Steve Stier at [email protected].