(all performances are FREE and open to the public)

The first-ever “Frostbite HomeGrown Saturday” event is scheduled for this Saturday, Feb 20th in Downtown Manistee. The event - meant to be a fun, family-oriented way to beat those mid-winter blues and enjoy our community – will take place from 12 noon to 4:00pm on River Street.

Downtown Manistee's beloved “street buskers” are back for a winter encore. “These street musicians made a big splash this summer during our first HomeGrown Saturdays events, and we're thrilled to have a full slate of music for Saturday.” says Travis Alden, Director of Manistee's Main Street DDA – the organizer of the event.

The buskers will be performing in two shifts: from 12-2pm and 2-4pm in various businesses on River Street. The lineup includes:

Marty Yaple at Suvi Boutique
Mike Beveridge at Anne's Bookstore and Alex Doucett's
Wayne Stevens at Goody's Juice & Java
Tom Biggs at Sunrise Fabric
Michala & Carmin Jamison at Northern Spirits
Monte & Monica Klein at The Outpost
Bill Ferguson at Hokanson Camera
'Triple Shot' at Glik's
'2Blue' at The Boathouse Grill
Plus a pump organ at Reusch Jewelers

A new feature of this HomeGrown Saturday is the “chili hop” contest. Nine different batches of chili will be competing for the title of best chili and the $100 Downtown Dollars prize. Each entry will be located in a different store, and scorecards detailing each will be available throughout downtown.

Download Your Chili Hop Scorecard

The entries are:

James & Jerry's “Pabst Bacon Cheeseburger Chili” at Reusch Jewelers
Gini Pelton's “Pelton's Olympic Ski Racing Chili” at Moving Spirit Wine Shop
Bob Kennedy's “JGCCO Tea Chili Verde” at The Ideal Kitchen
“Home Boy's Chili” at La Familia Restaurant
“Rico's Revenge Red Chili” at the Boathouse Grill
“That's Not Right! White Chili” at the Boathouse Grill
“Kyle's Special Chili” at the Outpost
“River Street Station Chili” at River Street Station
“Blazin' Saddles Chili” at the Elks Club
The Elks will also be selling bowls of their chili for $2 each and hot dogs for $1.

Scorecards will be available at any of the above businesses. Everyone is invited to sample all of the chili entries, score them, and turn in the scorecard by 3:30pm at the Boathouse Grill. Each full scorecard will be entered into a drawing for $50 Downtown Dollars. The winners will be announced at 4:00 also at the Boathouse.

In between listening to the music, tasting chili and shopping, be sure to try your skills at 'Corn-Hole' on River Street between Oak Street and the fountain. Also some fresh snow has been brought in for everyone to build their best snow man! The snow is in front of the former Glik's building, on River Street between Maple and Oak.

The Boathouse Grill is hosting a special winter beer garden on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant and will feature two special winter brews on tap. $2 burgers, cups of chili and cheddar ale soup, hot chocolate and coffee will also be available at the Boathouse.

Frostbite HomeGrown Saturday is brought to you by the Manistee Main Street DDA with special thanks to Swidorski Brothers Excavating.