If it’s a June weekend, there’s a festival somewhere in Door County.
So is the case in 2025, with nine festivals or big events taking place before the Fourth of July celebrations. For this year, these include an inaugural celebration in Door County of a federal holiday and the 60th annual holding of one of the Peninsula’s biggest, most popular and most fiery Scandinavian-style community festivals. There also are celebrations of lighthouses, goats, beer and wine, kites and pride. Here’s a quick look at them.
June 6 and 7: Door County Lighthouse Passport Days
This marks the second of two weekends for lighthouse buffs from around the globe to take part in these annual tours of Door County’s 11 lighthouses, most of which are open to the public only for these weekends, along with Kewaunee Pierhead lights in Kewaunee County and Grassy Island Range Lights in Green Bay.
The Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society, which operates the museum at the famed and recently restored Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor, sponsors this event, which was called Door County Lighthouse Festival for the first 31 years of its existence. The main difference from past lighthouse fests to this year’s is that ticket sales for tours by Door County Trolley and the Peninsula’s boat tour businesses will be done through those tour operators; a link to them is on the Passport Days webpage.
Lighthouse Passport Days offers airplane, trolley, boat, adventure and self-guided tours of the lights. Visitors engage with knowledgeable docents and volunteers to learn stories of past lightkeepers, their duties and their families. Tours are for all levels of activity and accessibility. Some involve hiking, while others have guests ride in a trolley or small airplane. Boat tours depart from a variety of locations around the Peninsula, including Sister Bay, Gills Rock, Fish Creek and Baileys Harbor.
All proceeds from tour ticket sales support the Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society and other lighthouse heritage groups involved with the tours. For tour information and schedules and to order tickets, visit dcmm.org, click on the Menu button at the top right of the home page and click on the “Door County Lighthouse Passport Days” link. For those who don’t make it this weekend (and didn’t make the opening weekend May 23-24), tours also will take place Aug. 7 (National Lighthouse Day) and Oct. 3 to 4.
June 14: Roofing of the Goats Parade/Goat Fest, Sister Bay
The 11th annual Roofing of the Goats Parade celebrates the annual climb of actual real-life goats to their summer home on the sod-covered roof (weather permitting) of Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant, where they’re one of the best-known Door County attractions across the country. There’s even a goat cam on the restaurant website from which people can watch them even if they’re not in Sister Bay.
To get to the sod roof, the goats really will walk there through downtown Sister Bay, heading out from the intersection of Mill Road and State 42 at 11 a.m. and along State 42 to the restaurant, accompanied by handlers and marchers who might be in goat-related or Scandinavian costumes. All goat owners are invited to take part with their animals (on leashes or in harnesses) and also are encouraged to wear Viking horns, Scandinavian gear or goat costumes. Parade watchers are asked to not bring dogs because they scare goats.
The goats on the roof that have become a trademark of Al Johnson’s first went up there in 1973 following a birthday prank. Today, Al Johnson’s keeps several dozen goats on a Sister Bay farm, where its goat barn features a live feed of soothing Wisconsin Public Radio broadcasts.
Part of the fun during the parade is a Goat Drop Contest. Participants can buy a goat drop sticker for $10 at roadside booths in the village or online and place the sticker somewhere along the parade route. If, during the parade, a goat, um, leaves a No. 2 on your sticker, you could win a prize. The drawing for prizes is immediately after the parade at the Stabbur Beer Garden outside the restaurant; proceeds benefit Northern Door Food Pantry managed by First Baptist Church of Sister Bay.
After the parade, at noon, the fun moves to the Stabbur Beer Garden for Goat Fest with live music, kids games and a Swedish pancake eating contest. Special food and beverages will be served. Other businesses in Sister Bay are expected to offer specials during the day.
For more information, call the Sister Bay Advancement Association at 920-854-2812 or visit sisterbay.com. For more about Al Johnson’s, call 920-854-2626 or visit aljohnsons.com.
June 14: Door County Beer Festival, Baileys Harbor
You wanna taste a bunch of different beers and other beverages from craft brewers across the state and Midwest while enjoying the beauty and atmosphere of Door County? Here’s your chance.
This year’s annual festival lists more than 150 different beers, ciders and meads created by 43 Midwestern craft and microbreweries and two homebrewing clubs that will be available for the more than 1,000 beer aficionados who traditionally attend to sample at the grounds and historic buildings of About Thyme Farm, a picturesque wedding and events barn in Baileys Harbor. Besides being able to taste a wide variety of brews, guests can chat with brewmasters and other representatives who will be on hand.
Most of the brewers are based in Wisconsin, including nine in Door County, while seven hail from the neighboring states of Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Many of the breweries will be familiar to beer aficionados and past festival guests – although they’ll likely have new brews on hand – but 12 are new to the event, including Door County-based Starboard Brewing in downtown Sturgeon Bay and Island Orchard Cider in Ellison Bay.
Other new-to-the-festival breweries for 2025 include a known name from the past for regional beer fans, Schell’s (August Schell Brewing) of New Ulm, Minnesota. Other first-timers to the Door County event are Wisconsin-based Earth Rider Brewery of Superior; Giant Jones Brewing of Madison; Good Works Brewing of Milton; Hop & Barrel Brewing of Hudson; North Pillar Brewing of Waukesha; and Untitled Art of Waunakee. They’re joined by new out-of-staters DeStihl Brewing of Normal, Illinois; Hop Butcher for the World of Chicago; and Lupulin Brewing of Big Lake, Minnesota.
Door County breweries on hand, along with Starboard and Island Orchard, are Bridge Up Brewing of Sturgeon Bay; Door County Brewing Co., Hacienda Beer Co. and Sway Brewing, all of Baileys Harbor; Shipwrecked Brew Pub, Mixed Meadia and One Barrel Brewing, Egg Harbor; and Peach Barn Farmhouse and Brewery, Sister Bay. The homebrewing clubs on hand will be the Green Bay Rackers and the Belle City Home Brewers from Racine.
Along with the beverages, four food trucks will be on site and live music will be played by the duo Open Tab.
The Door County Beer Festival is open from noon to 4 p.m. at About Thyme Farm, 8425 County F, Baileys Harbor. Parking is not allowed at the site, but free shuttles will run continuously from Cornerstone Pub downtown (parking is available at Brann Field and Schoolhouse Park as well as on the streets), and shuttles also will run for guests of selected lodging establishments.
General admission is $55 and includes a commemorative 3-ounce tasting glass; $75 for Early Access admission, which which gets you into the tasting tents at 11 a.m. Designated drivers admission is $15. IDs are required for all guests to enter; no one younger than age 21 is admitted and no dogs are allowed.
For advance tickets or more information, including a beer list and parking and shuttle updates, visit doorcountybeerfestival.com or facebook.com/DoorCountyBeerFest.
June 21: Fyr Bal, Ephraim
2025 marks the 60th year the Ephraim Business Council is honoring the village’s Scandinavian heritage and celebrating the impending arrival of summer with its annual Fyr Bal community festival.
Fyr Bal – it’s Norwegian for “fire ball” or “bonfire” and pronounced “feer ball” – re-creates the customs of how early Scandinavian settlers celebrated the summer solstice. The highlight of the community-wide festival is the old tradition of a ceremonial lighting around dusk of a large bonfire representing winter, thus making room for summer to take over.
To add to the ceremony’s importance, the bonfire is lit by the newly named Fyr Bal Chieftain, a village resident recognized by the business council for their service to the community. The name of the new chieftain isn’t known to the public until the ceremony, and residents consider it a great honor and the pinnacle of the festival.
The Chieftain ceremony kicks off with Scandinavian dances and music outside Village Hall at 8:15 p.m. At 8:30 p.m., the chieftain, whose name is still secret at this point, makes their way into Eagle Harbor by boat and is presented with a medallion before lighting the bonfire. The day wraps up with fireworks at around 9:30 p.m.
And Fyr Bal offers plenty of happenings and activities throughout the day leading up to the nighttime ceremonies, with live music, food and beverages, an artisan and food market, a used book sale at the library, and activities and entertainment for adults and children. A raffle takes place with drawings held at Village Hall at 8 p.m., just before the chieftain ceremony.
One of the special events for this year’s festival is a free concert by pianist/composer Colin Welford and Friends, “A Celebration of our Fyr Bal Chieftains!” The performance, at Ephraim Moravian Church, is a fun musical tribute to past chieftains with not just music but also anecdotes and tall tales.
Kicking off the day are pancakes and yoga at 8 a.m. There’s the traditional pancake breakfast in Village Hall, and a yoga session will be held at that time on Anderson Dock.
A Fur Ball Pet Showcase and Parade starts at 9 a.m., with pets of all kinds gathering on the lawn outside Edgewater Resort at 8:30 a.m. and walking to Village Hall for the showcase on the main stage there. Pets will be judged for prizes in the categories of Best Dressed, Most Talented and Best in Show.
For those with competitive instincts, ice cream (10 a.m. at Wilson’s Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor) and cherry pie (3:30 p.m. on the stage at Village Hall) eating contests will be held, along with a cornhole tournament and ax throwing (both at 4 p.m., registration required for cornhole at the Ephraim Business Council tent). The popular cake walk takes place at 11:30 a.m. in Village Hall. A benefit for the Northern Door Children’s Center is taking place at The Red Putter mini golf course on the north side of the village.
Also, the 2025 Fyr Bal offers a new contest – a kubb tournament, an old Scandinavian or European lawn game in which players or teams toss wooden dowels across a playing area to knock down their opponent’s wooden blocks (the kubbs), then try to knock down the king block in the middle of the pitch. Sponsored by the Ephraim Historical Foundation, the tournament runs from noon to 3 p.m. on the Olga Dana Green, 10049 State 42; advance registration is required with a fee of $60 per team. To sign up, visit ephraim.org/calendar/kubb.
Visitors of all ages also can participate in a Paint & Sip, trying their creative hands at painting while sampling wine and summer treats, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Eagle Harbor Inn, 9914 Water St.
Children’s activities and entertainment in the early afternoon include a balloon artist, face painter, T-shirt decorating, an appearance by an ice princess and popular children’s musician Randy Peterson, all taking place at Ephraim Shores Resort, 10018 Water St.
To add to the Scandinavian experience, visitors also can watch wooden shoe carving demonstrations at Harborside Park and make a medallion or a flower crown at Village Hall. A performer named Skogtroll gives a program on Norwegian history and music at 11:30 a.m. on the stage at Village Hall.
State 42, which runs through downtown Ephraim, will close from from Moravia Street to Cedar Street for the festival. Those planning to attend who aren’t able to park within walking distance can instead can park at the former Shopko building in Sister Bay north of Ephraim or Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport on the south side and get complimentary transportation to the festival.
For a full schedule or more information, visit ephraim-doorcounty.com.
June 21: Juneteenth Gathering, Sturgeon Bay
What’s being called Door County’s first public Juneteenth celebration will feature a day of education, entertainment and unity for all at Martin Park in Sturgeon Bay.
The gathering is planned to feature an international speaker as emcee, a deejay, an African drum circle and a Double Dutch jump rope competition. All are invited to attend what is billed by organizer Tracey Robertson as “an opportunity for the community to connect, reflect and celebrate together in a welcoming and inclusive environment.”
Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday and celebration commemorating June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom after the Civil War, and more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. Blacks and African-Americans in America may have begun celebrating the day shortly after, and it’s considered a reminder of their ongoing journey toward justice and equality.
Food will not be provided at the event but guests are encouraged to bring their own meals and share in the experience with family and friends. Education and resource tables are expected to be on hand.
The Juneteenth Gathering runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Martin Park. For more information, including resource table and sponsorship opportunities, email Tracey Robertson at dcjuneteenth25@gmail.com.
June 21: Door County Wine Fest, Baileys Harbor
The Door County Wine Fest, presented by the same group that puts together the beer fest held the week before, offers samples of wines from the 10 wineries along the Door County Wine Trail that increasingly are becoming known not just for their fruit wines, notably from cherries and apples, but also for award-winning grape wines from longer-established wineries and more recently established vintners.
The wineries scheduled to be on hand are Anchored Roots, Harbor Ridge and Mixed Meadia in Egg Harbor; Stone’s Throw and Lake Fire in Baileys Harbor; Lautenbach’s Orchard Country in Fish Creek; Door Peninsula in Carlsville; Door 44 and Simon Creek, both in Sturgeon Bay; Harbor Ridge, Egg Harbor; Stone’s Throw, Baileys Harbor; and von Stiehl in Algoma.
Three food trucks will be on hand, and cheese samples will be available from Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery, with VIP ticket holders getting a chance for special wine-cheese pairings. Live music is part of the day.
Tasting tents will be open from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are $80 for general admission, $95 VIPs (a limited number remain as of June 3), $15 designated drivers, and admission is limited so advance purchases are recommended. As with the beer fest, IDs are required to enter; no one younger than age 21 is admitted and no dogs are allowed. Also as with the beer fest, no parking is allowed at About Thyme for the festival but shuttles will run from Recreation Park and Roost & Banter in Baileys Harbor, as well as locations in Egg Harbor, Fish Creek and Sister Bay.
For tickets or more information, including parking and shuttle information, visit doorcountywinefest.com.
June 28: Kite Day, Sister Bay
The Sister Bay Advancement Association sponsors its fourth annual family-friendly summer day of different colors and shapes soaring and swooping through the sky.
Members of the Wisconsin Kiters Club will put on shows and demonstrations with their spectacular kites painting and answer questions and share tips with visitors about the art of kite flying. Also, the first 100 children who attend receive a free kite-making kit, along with guidance from experienced kiters to help them build and fly their own creations.
Kite Day runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sister Bay Sports Complex, 2155 Autumn Court, Sister Bay. Admission is free, but attendees should bring their own lawn chairs or picnic blankets if needed. Of course, kite flying depends on wind conditions; updates will be posted to the Sister Bay Advancement Association Facebook and Instagram pages.
For more information, visit sisterbay.com.
June 28: Ellison Bay Day and Parade/Pollinator Party
The small community in far northern Door County plays host to a community festival featuring a parade, a dog show, classic car show, arts and crafts fair, and more.
Following the day’s opening event (Sunrise Yoga at 7:30 a.m. at Community Park on State 42; bring your own mat), the parade starts at 10 a.m. at Fitzgerald Park on Garrett Bay Road and march to Community Park. Businesses, local organizations, youth groups and more are invited to take part.
Immediately after the parade, festival activities start at 11 a.m. and run to 5 p.m. at Community Park. One of the highlight events is the Bestminster Dog Show, which features awards in categories such as Best Wiggly Butt, Best Floppy Ears, Best Markings, Best Owner Resemblance and more. All dogs are welcome and can be registered at the event.
Along with the classic car show and arts and craft vendors, live music will be provided by Door County newcomer Billy Dave Sherman and his Hedgehog Republic Band at 12:30 p.m. Children’s activities offer face painting, a free bounce house, a sand pile treasure hunt and crafts to do. Bingo starts at 4 p.m. and a raffle will be held.
Also, Ellison Bay Day co-sponsor Door County North will hold a Pollinator Party at the park to wrap up its Pollinator Week, highlighted by the conclusion of its butterfly scavenger hunt.
The hunt has Aponi, Door County North’s large garden art butterfly, visit locations around Ellison Bay and the town of Liberty Grove from June 22 to 27 before appearing at the June 28 Pollinator Party. Hunters can stop by the Door County North Welcome Center in Ellison Bay beginning June 22 for details and to pick up the first clue to Aponi’s location; they’ll pick up entry slips when they find Aponi.
Clues then will be posted on Door County North’s Facebook and Instagram pages each day.
Hunters then turn in the entry slips by 2 p.m. June 28 at the Pollinator Party. Drawings will be held at 4 p.m. for a grand prize and two gift certificates; winners need not be present. Entry slips also can be turned in the day before, June 27, at the Ellison Bay Welcome Center.
Ellison Bay Day is sponsored by the Ellison Bay Service Club and Door County North. For more information, visit the “Ellison Bay Service Club” Facebook page.
June 28: Open Door Pride Fest, Sturgeon Bay
All are welcome to this ninth annual celebration of inclusion sponsored by Open Door Pride not just for Door County’s LGBTQIA+ community but for all during the national recognition of June as Pride Month.
Running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Martin Park on South Third Avenue, the festival features music throughout the day spun by a deejay and performed live by a variety of popular Door County musicians.
Games for young and old will be held and vendors will be on hand with food, beverages and other merchandise. Open Door Pride also will have its “What’s My Pride?” selfie station set up in its new art tent, with which visitors can jot their thoughts on pride on a chalkboard and have their photo taken with it.
Open Door Pride’s annual Sandy Brown Award will be announced during the festival. Named for its inaugural winner, who created the Door County Chapter of National PFLAG in 1997, the award honors a community member or business that exemplifies the organization’s mission. A Door County artist designs and creates a new trophy for the winner each year.
Another award announced during the fest is Open Door’s annual IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equality and Accessibility) Scholarship, which is offered to a graduating Door County senior who demonstrates a passion for inclusivity, diversity, increasing sensitivity and building community.
For more information, visit opendoorpride.org or email info@opendoorpride.org.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County features weekend festivals throughout June. Here’s your guide to them
Reporting by Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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