10th Annual Presentation of the Smelt Queen Happening Sunday

DULUTH, Minn. —It’s that time of the year again for the tenth annual Presentation of the Smelt Queen. 

The parade will start at Canal Park on the Maritime Visitor Center lawn and walk down the Lakewalk all the way to the Zietgiest. They have been planning this year’s parade since last year with parade workshops happening throughout the last month at the Duluth Arts Institute in West Duluth.

“One thing that we really like to celebrate is the underdog of nature,” said the co-founder of The Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe Anton Jimenez-Kloeckl. “Of course smelt are an invasive species who had a large boom in the 1970s which made a cultural moment for smelt fishermen and smelt culture. We were inspired by that sense of abundance and a rite of spring.”

The parade and puppet shows are free and start at 3:30 p.m. At 5 p.m. the Zeitgeist will be hosting a smelt fry party.