Empire Hops & Harvest Festival Returns This Weekend after Six Year Hiatus
By Art Bukowski | Sept. 15, 2025
A beloved Leelanau County event that was just starting to hit its stride before the pandemic will make its return this weekend.
Civic leaders launched the Empire Hops and Harvest Festival in 2014 to serve as a bookend of sorts to an Empire tourist season that largely begins with the popular Asparagus Festival in the spring.
As it did to countless thousands of events across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic put what was intended to be a temporary pause on the hops festival, which due to a variety of factors never returned – until now.
The event runs from noon until 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20 in downtown Empire. …
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