MUNISING — The Alger County Chamber of Commerce is currently accepting vendor applications for a celebration that will feature live music, food and other entertainment in downtown Munising starting next weekend.

The Pictured Rocks Days festival is a two-day event that will be held at Bayshore Park along Elm Avenue in Munising from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 9 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 10. The event was put together by the Alger County Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Pictured Rocks Cruises, the primary attraction, to show appreciation to community members in the Upper Peninsula. Pictured Rocks Cruises has provided lakeshore boat cruises for over 50 years in the Munising area. In accordance with the festival, the company will host its annual Yoopers Ride Free Days where the first 1,500 people to show up on both days of the festival with an ID showing they’re from the U.P. will receive free classic Yooper cruises. In addition to the giveaway of 3,000 cruises, the company will also provide cruises to regular paying customers at the standard rate of $38 on both days.

Doors will open at 7 a.m. for people to come get tickets for the free cruise and the first cruise will start at 9 a.m. with one cruise departing every hour, said Leo Isleb, assistant manager at Pictured Rock Cruises.

“You must come through our office and show a valid ID or driver’s license with a U.P. address on it in order to get tickets,” Isleb said. “You can’t just show up at the the boat expecting a cruise.”

Other activities at the festival will include free kayaking demos, bounce houses, a clown performance, information booths and a petting zoo. More than 60 activity booths and food vendors made up last year’s festival but this year even more are expected. There will be dozens of new vendors for over 7,000 people to choose from, said Kathy Reynolds, executive director of the Alger County Chamber of Commerce.

“We will have easily over 100 booths so it’s quite extensive the amount of stuff we’ll have to do,” Reynolds said.

The event started out as just a day when Pictured Rocks Cruises offered free cruises to local residents, but after the first year in 2012 when Yooper cruises became popular, the Alger County Chamber of Commerce added a festival into the mix.

“At first people would only come for the cruise but some people wanted to make a whole weekend vacation out of it, so we added the festival and it definitely gives them a lot more options,” Reynolds said. “It’s just been a win-win since then.”

For more information about the Pictured Rocks Days festival or about becoming a vendor, the Alger County Chamber of Commerce can be reached at 906-387-2138 or information can be found online at www.algercountychamber.com/pictured-rocks-days.

Von Lanier can be contacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 254.