DULUTH — Winter might be the purest time to love Duluth, but who needs purity when it's 80 and sunny? The Zenith City sees its biggest tourist crowds during the warmest months, and no wonder. Here's your starter guide to summer shenanigans for each weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day. It's far from a comprehensive guide, so be sure to watch the News Tribune for coverage of many more events this sunny season.
May 24-26: Magic Smelt Parade There once was a time when the Northland was without smelt — they were introduced accidentally in 1912 — but the small silver fish have since become Minnesota's most beloved invasive species. Duluth celebrates the annual smelt run with a Lakewalk parade in the style of a New Orleans Second Line procession, complete with a brass band and a wild variety of costumed participants. "You can be a cowgirl smelt or an alien smelt," one participant told the News Tribune last year, "whatever you want to be.
" This year's Magic Smelt Parade may be the last unless someone steps in to take the mantle from retiring organizer Jim Ouray. It will take place Sunday, May 26, with a smelt fry and party to follow (magicsmelt.com).
ADVERTISEMENT May 31–June 2: Margaritas, mimosas and Bloody Marys The name "Bloody Mary" implies violence, although exactly how the breakfast cocktail was given that name has been lost to history. The first reference in the Oxford English Dictionary dates to 1939, when the recipe described was a bracing ratio of "half tom.
