150 Years, One Big Party!
Duluth is turning 150, and the city is starting the celebration with eight hours of live music, carnival games, food trucks and a downtown party headlined by The Smithereens and Grand Funk Railroad.
Off the Rails: Duluth’s Big 150 takes over Downtown Duluth from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday, September 12, at 3142 Hill St. NW. The event marks the official kickoff of the city’s 150th anniversary celebration, giving Duluth a full afternoon and evening to toast a century and a half without requiring anyone to sit through a history lecture first.
The day will spread across downtown with family-friendly activities, carnival games, food trucks and live entertainment. Then the volume goes up.
The Smithereens take the stage at 6:30 p.m., bringing a catalog of guitar-driven rock to the anniversary celebration. At 8:30 p.m., Grand Funk Railroad closes out the night, giving Duluth’s birthday party a classic-rock finish.
A Birthday Bigger Than One Day
The September 12 celebration is meant to be the beginning rather than the entire story.
Duluth’s sesquicentennial will continue as a yearlong commemoration, making Off the Rails the opening chapter in a larger look at how the city reached 150 years and what it has become along the way. More activities, details and announcements are expected as the celebration approaches.
That makes downtown an especially fitting place to start. Modern Duluth has turned its city center into a gathering place for concerts, festivals, restaurants and community events, so a birthday party built around music and people spilling into the streets feels appropriately current.
There is also something pleasingly uncomplicated about the format. A city anniversary can easily become a parade of proclamations and commemorative plaques. Duluth is beginning its milestone with carnival games and loud guitars.
Residents can keep an eye on the City of Duluth for additional anniversary information and updates as September gets closer.
For longtime residents, the event offers a chance to celebrate a place they have watched change. For newer arrivals, it is a fairly entertaining introduction to the community they joined somewhere around year 149.
Either way, 150 only comes around once. Duluth appears determined not to spend it quietly.
For more festivals and community celebrations happening around Gwinnett, check the Guide to Gwinnett directory at https://www.guidetogwinnett.com/festivals.
