Milford Memories to Feature Food, Fun, Music and More

not only offers fun for White Lake-area residents, but it also provides a financial boost to the community.

Now in its 20th year, the festival is held each year during the second full weekend of August. It provides many area associations and nonprofit groups an opportunity to raise funds, and it also allows businesses to market themselves and possibly gain customers. 

"There is a tremendous amount of exposure to not just the businesses in Milford but around the entire (Huron Valley) community," said Huron Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joell Beether, who helps run the event along with a 20-person event committee and more than 500 volunteers. "We get calls all here at the chamber office asking us for more information on a business that someone saw at Memories."

There’s a lot of everything for visitors, including historical events, kids’ activities, live musical entertainment, a weekend-long art fair, euchre and a host of other contests and all the food and drinks a Michigander could want. 

"I think one of the reasons it has grown is because we make sure to include events that are of interest to the entire family," said Huron Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joell Beether, who helps run the event along with a 20-person event committee and more than 500 volunteers. "There are a nice variety of activities, and it is more than an art show." 

The entertainment schedule includes more than 21 acts, including Alan Turner and the Steel Horse Band, Wheelhouse and the P.A. Drama Company. 

Events include a 1-mile fun run and 5K and 10K runs, a blind canoe race, Civil War encampments, cold butt euchre (where players sit on a block of ice when they play), cupcake decorating by Demarle at Home and hot pepper-eating contests.

The events are designed to appeal to guests of all ages, and an array of activities are specifically designed for children at the Just for Kids area. 

New this year are events managed by Oakland County, such as a rock climbing wall Friday and Sunday and "geocaching," a type of GPS-related scavenger hunt, on Saturday and Sunday, Beether said.

Although crowd numbers can be difficult to ascertain, Beether estimates that a few years back there were more than 200,000 people in attendance when "crowd counters" were in place.

It is likely that number may be even higher in recent years. "The streets are packed, and I think more people look forward to it because of the economy and the fact that some communities have had to cancel festivals," Beether said.

She admits it can be a challenge to pull off the festival each year from a financial perspective as costs rise, but she says that the committee "finds creative ways to cut costs and still maintain activities and services."

The festival was originally organized around a musical production written by James Mason and entitled “Milford Memories.” It told the story of Milford’s founding fathers and was based on the book Ten Minutes Ahead of the Rest of the World. First held in 1991 and then in 1993, the festival has been an annual event ever since, with the art fair portion alone having doubled over the past decade. 

Milford Memories will be held from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The beer tent will be open Friday and Saturday nights until midnight. Shuttle bus service to downtown is available throughout most of the three days. To be included on the Milford Memories email list, send a note to info@milfordmemories.com.