Lake Marvin Days Arts Festival 

Every Labor Day, Lake Marvin gathers for the Lake Marvin Days Arts Festival, a celebration of local artists, musicians, makers, and traditions that may or may not have been invented specifically for the festival. 

What began as a small lakeside flea market has grown into a multi-day event that now includes art exhibitions, live performances, outdoor installations, food vendors, historical reenactments, and at least one recurring disagreement about whether a historical reenactment is the same thing as a performance. 

The Festival Grounds 

The festival takes place across Lake Marvin, the lakeshore, the fairgrounds, and several locations that are only used for the festival and otherwise remain politely closed the rest of the year. 

Visitors can follow walking paths between venues or simply wander until they find something they like, which is officially the recommended navigation strategy. 

Art & Exhibitions 

The Arts Festival showcases painters, sculptors, photographers, textile artists, and individuals who insist their work cannot be categorized. 

Featured installations have historically included: 

• large wooden structures that slowly change shape over the course of the weekend 

• paintings of the lake that are slightly different every time you look at them 

• interactive pieces that require audience participation and occasional apologies 

The Lake Marvin Arts Council does not define “art” very strictly. This has proven effective. 

Music & Performance 

Performances take place throughout the town, often simultaneously, sometimes intentionally. 

Past festival lineups have included: 

• folk ensembles 

• experimental jazz groups 

• school marching bands 

• solo acoustic performers who only play one song but play it very well 

• and at least one act described in the program as “to be determined at time of performance” 

Food & Market 

Local vendors offer a wide selection of foods, including regional specialties, seasonal dishes, and things that are mostly an excuse to stand near a grill and talk to neighbors. 

You will find: 

• Lake Marvin original recipes 

• farm-grown produce 

• baked goods with family names attached 

• and at least one booth that has been selling the same lemonade since 1987 

If you are lucky, you may come across a historic box of Deering’s Pocon-Os cereal. Boxes from as early as 1910 are still in circulation. We do not recommend eating them, or even opening them, but they do look very good in a kitchen.   Behind glass.  And up high.

The Boat Parade 

The highlight of the festival, the Boat Parade circles the lake at dusk, lighting it in motion. It is followed by fireworks. 

Years ago, the Boat Parade replaced the Founders Parade in downtown. It is not entirely clear who the founders were supposed to be. That did not stop the parade from continuing annually, with floats representing the Glynns, the Deerings, the Altermans, the Emersons, and occasionally “conceptual founders” when the actual founders were unavailable or unwilling to participate. 

This tradition was eventually discontinued, as many residents felt it had become a rather narcissistic exercise. 

Today, neighbors and visitors alike gather lakeside for the Boat Parade to listen to music, watch the lights reflect across the water, and enjoy fireworks provided and curated by Wally Knussen. The experience makes everything feel slightly more important than it probably is. 

Locals say this is the moment when Lake Marvin “feels like itself.” 

No one has successfully explained what that means, but most people agree it is true. 

Visitor Note 

The Lake Marvin Days Arts Festival is a family-friendly event, though families are encouraged to interpret that phrase in whatever way makes them most comfortable. 

Ever since Wally Knussen accidentally shot a Black Dahlia firework into the Emerson’s boathouse and burned it to the waterline, Boat Parade attendees are encouraged to bring extinguishers and other basic fire suppression materials. 

Some traditions are old.
Some are new.
Some are still being negotiated. 

And all of them are part of Lake Marvin Days. 

Sponsors & Community Partners 

The Lake Marvin Days Arts Festival is made possible through the generous support of local businesses, family-owned establishments, and organizations that have agreed—sometimes enthusiastically, sometimes after multiple phone calls, and once following what may-or-may-not be characterized as a hostage situation—to appear on this page. 

Lake Marvin is proud to recognize the following sponsors: 

• Larry’s Lube’n’Tune
  Providing oil changes, tire rotations, and the quiet reassurance that something in town still runs exactly as it should. 

• Overstreet Tire
  Official tire provider of the Boat Parade. No one is entirely sure how that arrangement began, but it has endured. 

• Dress Barn & Pagenterra
  Outfitting Lake Marvin residents for weddings, funerals, festivals, and events that may or may not require sequins and tiaras. 

• Curios Bar
  A longstanding LGBTQIA+ gathering place known for music, late-night conversation, and the highest concentration of festival after-parties per square foot in town. 

• Olaf’s Family Restaurant
  Open early, closes late, and serves a breakfast that has historically resolved at least three town disputes. 

• The Green Lantern Head Shop
  A Lake Marvin institution specializing in glassware, incense, and items that are best described as “legally ambiguous souvenirs.” 

Community Note 

The Festival Committee would like to extend its sincere thanks to all sponsors, regardless of whether they fully understood what they were sponsoring at the time. 

Their support ensures that Lake Marvin Days continues to grow, evolve, and occasionally set off fireworks in directions no one specifically approved. 

We are grateful for their partnership, their patience, and their willingness to have their names associated with whatever happens next.