Alpena, MI - This year’s Fourth of July festivities will have a particular focus on northeast Michigan’s maritime heritage. The Thunder Bay Maritime Festival, a free family event, will take place on the nation’s birthday and feature tours of the three-masted 19th century Great Lakes schooner, Denis Sullivan. The festival will also feature the regional musical talents of the award-winning Song of the Lakes, as well as the popular acappella group The Overtones, Wisconsin folksinger and songsmith David HB Drake and renowned Great Lakes story-teller Genot Picor.

“This is a terrific opportunity for the public to see some of the Sanctuary’s ongoing projects and discoveries and to enjoy the maritime history that led to the designation of Thunder Bay as a federally-protected national treasure,” said Jeff Gray, Manager of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve.

Children and adults alike will enjoy the festival’s line-up of entertainment, games, displays and boat tours. Song of the Lakes, widely known as the ‘Musical Ambassadors of the Great Lakes,’ is returning this year. Voted the best Folk Artists for several years in Northern Michigan's music scene, Song of the Lakes combines the rich Celtic and Scandinavian traditions with Michigan history in an engaging high energy show, woven with humor and storytelling.

Another musical highlight will be The Overtones, a six-man acappella group from Traverse City, which has engaged crowds for years with sea songs and chanteys about the maritime history of the Great Lakes. Wisconsin folksinger and songsmith David HB Drake presents the music of Great Lakes, oceans, tall ships and waterfront pubs in ‘A Schooner Songbag’. The festivities will begin with an Opening Ceremony at 11:00am at South Riverfront Park behind the Federal Building on Water Street in downtown Alpena.

Popular storyteller-musician Genot Picor blends the unique cultures and ethnic traditions of the French, English and Native Americans of the Great Lakes region who accompanied the coming of the voyageurs 300 years ago. In his role as a ‘Ghost from Michigan's Past - A Voyageur-Scout’ -- Picor shares stories and music that relate the discoveries, the special friendships and new adventures of life in the wilderness.

The public will also get a rare look at the reproduction of the 19th century 3-masted Great Lakes schooner, Denis Sullivan, Wisconsin’s flagship and a floating classroom, and a modern research vessel during tours of the 80-foot research vessel, Laurentian, which supports the activities of the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve. In addition, the public with be able to view a unique recreation of a portion of the wooden passenger and package freighter carrier, Pewabic, in an exhibit at the sanctuary and the hourly showing of the sanctuary film, Tragedies in the Mist. Inside the Federal Building, Maritime artists and authors will be on hand and Thunder Bay Sanctuary staff will share video from their research missions.

Additional festival highlights for children include, inflatable games, face painting, rope making, sand art, a U.S. Coast Guard Obstacle Course, and maritime activities such as “Discover Diving” - an opportunity to don dive equipment and “Gutter Sailing” - miniature sail boat races.

The festival will run from 11:00am to 7pm on Sunday, July 4th, and will be attended by the Manager of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, Jeff Gray, and local dignitaries. The Fourth Annual Thunder Bay Maritime Festival is a free event and made possible by the generous support of many including: Patrons: Charter Communications/Charter Media, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve; Sponsors: Alpena Power Company, Banner Realty, Holiday Inn, Hudson Motors and Independent Bank; Supporters: Alpena Furniture Company, Lafarge North America – Alpena Plant, National City Bank, Neiman’s Family Market and Timm Construction; and Friends: Kadrich Carpet and Alpena Agency Inc.

The Festival is co-hosted by the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the City of Alpena.

Thunder Bay is a 448-square mile sanctuary and underwater preserve that protects an estimated 116 historically significant shipwrecks ranging from nineteenth century wooden side-wheelers to twentieth century steel-hulled steamers. The Sanctuary is helped in its mission by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, which supports the outreach and education efforts of the National Marine Sanctuary System, part of the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.