PETOSKEY — Summer is almost here, and downtown Petoskey is ready to celebrate with its first annual Flower Festival June 20-22.
William Santos, the owner of Monarch Garden and Floral and one of the main organizers of the event, said the goal of the festival is to bring more people to downtown Petoskey and celebrate the start of the summer season.
Santos, who is also a member of the Petoskey Area Garden Club, said he is excited to recognize the flowers and displays set up throughout downtown.
Throughout the festival, different downtown merchants will be hosting various activities and special deals, such as a bouquet of flowers with purchase or joining a class or workshop. There will be floral-themed activities available for children, and downtown visitors will also be able to enjoy flower displays and backdrops for photos.
On the Saturday of the festival, the Little Traverse Bay Humane Society will even be bringing in a photographer so people can get professional photos taken of their pets in front of a flower display.
Monarch Garden and Floral, Flora Bae Home and Flowers From Sky’s The Limit will all have tables set up to showcase their own versions of a garden party, Santos added.
Although this is the first year for the Flower Festival, Santos said he is hoping to see it continue to bloom and find a permanent home on the Downtown Petoskey calendar.
“In downtown, we have the Holiday Open House, and it’s so popular and people love it, and they said, ‘It puts us in the Christmas spirit,'” he said. “In this time of the year before the summer starts and we get all crazy, we have nothing going on, and now is the time when all the flowers are blooming and everything is so pretty — it’s time to celebrate that.”
The goal is to eventually expand the event from a weekend to a week, and allow the festival to keep growing.
“Who doesn’t love flowers, right?” Santos asked.
The full schedule of events and list of participating stores can be found at monarchgfd.com/pages/calendar-of-events.
— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @KarlyGrahamJrn.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: ‘Who doesn’t love flowers?’: First-ever Flower Festival coming to downtown Petoskey
Reporting by Karly Graham, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
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