Kaleva, in the center of Manistee County, holds a festival in mid-July. The festival includes Kaleva School Reunion, food, softball tournament, car show, pony rides, games and contests, parade, arts and crafts, and fireworks.
The 2021 Kaleva Days event has been canceled due to health concerns relating to Covid-19. The festival returns in 2022.

Kaleva was founded by Finnish settlers and many of its streets boast Finnish names. The Bottle House Museum, built with 60,000 glass bottles by John Makinen, is listed on the National Historic Register. It is owned and operated by the Kaleva Historical Society and houses historical displays. Another landmark in Kaleva is the RR Depot Museum which houses railroad artifacts and displays.

Here are some of the highlights from past events:

Saturday
Arts and Crafts Show, 9am.
Co-ed Rock & Roll Softball Tournament 8:30am.
Car Show.
Bottle House & Train Depot, noon-4pm.
Pony Rides, noon-4pm.
Manistee/Benzie Manistee Snowbirds Vintage Snowmobile Show and Swap Meet.
Kids Pie Eating Contest, 11am.
Adult Pie Eating Contest, 1pm.
Kids Games, ages 1-16, noon-3pm.
Chicken Squat Game.
Paint a Car.
Finnish Wife Carrying contest, 2pm.
Silent Auction, Raffle.
Euchre Tournament, Kaleva Tavern, 5pm.
Kaleva Class Reunion, Kaleva Tavern, 5pm.
Fireworks.
Sunday
Church Service in the Park.
Co-ed Rock & Roll Softball Tournament, 1pm.
Grand Parade, 2pm.

Events are listed according to the information available at the time of the most recent update to this story. The schedule is subject to change. Please see www.kalevami.com or Kaleva Days on Facebook

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