‘Run Smelt Run’ Parade Marches Down Duluth Lakwalk

Annual celebration pays tribute to the smelt running through Lake Superior waters

DULUTH, Minn. – A tradition like no other filled the Duluth Lakewalk with colorful characters and a celebration of the smelt run.

“I don’t know of anything like this anywhere else,” said Karin White, the parade’s Olympic presenter. “It’s region specific.”

The parade celebrates spring in the Northland.

“The smelt are running,” said John Finkle, one of the parade’s smelt morris dancers. “I went and got five gallons the other night and it’s so nice to have everything blossoming and blooming.”

It pays tribute to the annual run as smelters wait with nets and buckets to catch the fish at night.

“A lot of people have fond memories of having done it as kids,” explained White.

Sunday in Canal Park was all about the biggest fish-themed spectacle of the year, with families joining Duluth’s Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe to dress as the little silver fish.

“You should find a friend with glitter,” said White. “It’s fun to have some glitter, some silver, gray or blue.”

After the performance, the smelt parade marched down the Lakewalk to the Zeitgeist Arts Building where everyone was treated to a smelt fry.

“It’s fun to just be a silvery river of people down the Lakewalk,” said White.

The parade is becoming local folklore, a part of the Northland experience just like the fishing custom that inspired it.

“It’s an invasive species and yet still it’s part of our culture and tradition and we hear stories about it,” said Finkle.