Uncork Organizer Door County North Launches New Event for Same Weekend
Ellison Bay, Wis. (March 21, 2020) — Door County North, the business association for far northern Door County — including Ellison Bay, Gills Rock, Northport and Rowleys Bay — has announced that its big outdoor “foodie” event, the Uncork Summer Food-Wine-Music Festival, always located at Wickman House in Ellison Bay on the third or fourth weekend in June, has once again been put on hold for the 2022 tourism season.
Mickie Rasch, Community Coordinator for the Door County North business association, said a new event, Door County North Country Fair, will instead take place on the third weekend in June for 2022. The main location for the new event will be on the Liberty Grove Historical Society museum campus at the south end of Ellison Bay on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday June 26.
“Uncork started right at the beginning of the Peninsula’s dining renaissance,” said Mickie Rasch, “and was a significant part of the recognition that started growing for the Peninsula’s new restaurants and chefs, many of whom went on to be very successful. Now, after two years of the Covid pandemic, with many restaurants still struggling with staffing issues, we’ve decided to put Uncork Summer on hold again.”
The Door County North Country Fair will be a celebration culminating National Pollinator Week: Wings of Life. National Pollinator Week’s international mission is to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conversation, education, and research. The event will be a mix of food, drinks, music and entertainment, focusing on insects, plants and honey-related products, with the added feature of both on-site and off-site rummage sales.
Uncork Summer debuted in 2014 to showcase the county’s top chefs and food producers in an outdoor setting and signify the start of the Door County summer tourism season. The event immediately reached a broad audience of foodies and quickly grew each subsequent year. Mickie Rasch noted it also increased visitor awareness for the Town of Liberty Grove, the far northern Door County region she represents.
“Just like Uncork Summer,” said Rasch, “we hope the Door County North Country Fair will serve residents and visitors who will ‘Enjoy, Protect & Return,’ the motto of our local beautification group responsible for the butterfly and dragonfly mural in downtown Ellison Bay. We will be working with area organizations like Newport State Park to bring attention to the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats, beetles, moths, wasps, and flies and environmental issues that affect pollinator health. We’re also asking local establishments and other building owners to light up for Pollinator Week using yellow and orange lighting.”
Expansive free parking for the Door County North Country Fair is also located at the Liberty Grove Historical Society at 11831 State Highway 42, situated at the top of the hill at the south end of Ellison Bay. More information on hours and other event details will be announced soon. Follow Door County North on facebook.com and check back often on doorcountynorth.org
For more info about the Door County North Country Fair, call (920) 854-4450 or email doorcountynorth@gmail.com. Event hashtag: #pollinatorparty