Snow Sports Articles

Every year in Aitkin Minnesota, just around the Thanksgiving holiday a wonderful event unfolds. People from around the world come to visit a small community in northern Minnesota and sharing some wintertime fun.

The main event, of course is the fish house parade. However, the majority the people spend the majority of their day shopping in the local stores. Now this is unlike most parades in that the main theme is ice fish houses and of course there is a large amount of humor. The parade route speaks for itself -- the North wind blows South from the fairgrounds, along Minnesota Avenue. After passing the stoplights it turns west into an Alberta clipper on its way to the cozy City Hall.

I was fortunate enough this year to attend this year's local tradition and was impressed by just how much fun this was! There is actually a full day's worth of events available, starting with a pancake feed, craft sale, the parade and plenty of places to check out the local food fair. The parade this year started with Governor Tim Pawlenty being at the head of the line, although I'm not a big fan of his, I was glad to see he participated. As the rest of the parade went by It was obvious, this was a truly unusual parade. There were people driving snowmobiles on a tar road,

UFOs were cited,



Santa Claus and Mrs. Santa Claus visited,



there were even people in a hot tub!

As I talked to some of the groups around me, I found most to be from the metropolitan area. There were a large number of dads with their children, enjoying the parade as their mothers/wives were visiting nearby communities to do a little shopping.

So if you're fortunate enough to be in the Aitkin, MN area over Thanksgiving weekend, or have the time to drive their, I would definitely take in the Aitkin fish house parade as it is one of the finest winter parades, I have ever observed. Not only that, it's good clean fun for the whole family!

Enjoy the Experience!
Randy Man