Cheeseburger in Caseville Festival

Once a year, the sleepy town of Caseville on Michigan’s Saginaw Bay is transformed into a Jimmy Buffett extravaganza that stretches the length of the town. Tourists and locals alike pour into Caseville to gawk at the flamingo merchandise and buy cheeseburgers and margaritas from the street vendors stationed every five feet.

This year will mark the 8th annual Cheeseburger in Caseville, which runs from August 11-20. This wildly popular Michigan summer festival takes its name from the Jimmy Buffett song “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” although Caseville might just as easily be compared to Margaritaville as to paradise in this case.

The Cheeseburger in Caseville festival is about more than the burgers and margaritas, though. Scheduled events include fireworks displays, best cheeseburger contests, live entertainment, a Jimmy Buffett look-alike contest, and craft shows. The highlight of the event is the Parade of Tropical Fools on August 16 at 6:00 p.m., which is a parade like no other. Standard floats and giant flamingos compete for your attention with a shopping cart drill team and other hysterically funny paraders. This is undoubtedly a festival with a wacky sense of humor.

In previous years, the most popular events include the make-your-own hat workshop. Hat-makers proudly wear their tacky and towering creations proudly for the duration of the Cheeseburger Festival. The scavenger hunt that has people running from shop to shop attracts tons of ambitious kids. And be sure not to miss the pet fashion show, at which even the dogs prove they can invoke the tropical spirit of Jimmy Buffett.

If the tons of scheduled events at the Cheeseburger in Caseville Festival get a little overwhelming (or all the Jimmy Buffett music is making you insane), take a break to check out Caseville’s other attractions. A Putt-Putt course (complete with giant slide) is nearby, and the local restaurants are pretty decent for vacation-food fare. Sleeper State Park has nature trails and a beautiful beach, and the water of Saginaw Bay is crystal clean. Take water shoes if you plan to swim, though, because the water closest to the beach is a little rocky.

Hershel’s on the Bay is a large bar attached to the Bella Vista hotel provides some non-Jimmy Buffet nightlife if chilling by a campfire isn’t your cup of tea. The local shops range from tacky-touristy to upscale, and there are a surprising number of good secondhand bookstores in town.

As goofy as the Cheeseburger in Caseville Festival sounds, you have to see it to believe how much fun it can be. Besides, even Jimmy Buffett sounds good after a few homemade margaritas in the sun.