Community Events at the Ely Folk School
- Rachael Pace
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
The Ely Folk School strives to be a gathering space where all Ely area residents and visitors forge new connections, build a stronger community, and develop as individuals through experiential learning that honors the crafts and cultures of our region.
Primarily, we fulfill this mission by offering small, personalized learning experiences rooted in the seasons of the Northwoods and wisdom of our neighbors. We believe that learning happens best through story and that story is best done around a kitchen table.
However, we love the occasional big group gathering as well! Our community events are created to celebrate the strength and diversity of our community and landscape. Get the “lay of the land” of EFS Community Events below.
Spring Bonfire
Every May on the Wednesday before the Fishing Opener (the unofficial official start of summer!), we host the Ely Folk School Spring Bonfire at Semer’s Beach. We host this prior to Fishing Opener, before our guiding friends and lakeshore hosts are in the depths of the season. This bonfire is a celebration of the beauty of Ely’s community and summer joy.
Picture this: The ice is finally out; one of your favorite local bands is playing live music; kids are running into the cold water for a first (or maybe tenth for the particularly adventurous ones) swim of the year; you’re reconnecting with friends and acquaintances you forgot to hang out with over the dark winter months and meeting new folks too; you’re munching on a tasty Ely Folk School wild rice handpie; and sipping a refreshing beverage. That’s the Ely Folk School Spring Bonfire!
If you can’t quite picture it, that’s okay too - we made a little video illustrating the day!
Winter Bonfire
The seasonal opposite of the Spring Bonfire is the Winter Bonfire. Held the second Saturday of December, this event celebrates the onset of the winter season. A chance to honor the changing weather and light; a chance to explore the experiences that winter offers. We gather at the Ely Folk School with a bonfire in our pocket park, warm hot cocoa, and freshly baked apple hand pies.
Community Contra Dances & Jam Sessions
Prior to each community dance, we host an Old Time Strings Jam Session. The jam is led by the band for the community dance and others who wish to join in. Folks are encouraged to bring a fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, or bass and play along, or come to listen (or dance!).
Ely Folk School community contra dances bring together live music, traditional dancing, and the joyful gathering of friends and neighbors! All dances are taught live, so people of all ages and skill levels can participate. Our favorite thing about our dances is taking a moment to look across the dance floor and see the families, couples of all ages, and friends all joyfully figuring out the dance steps together.
Attendees have called the dances “an absolute blast”, “a great community event”, “so much fun”, and “awesome”. Another commented, “I’m so happy we have amazing events like this in Ely!!” Someone else said, “This event brings all areas of the community together and bridges the gap between all ages.” It’s common to see young children dancing, or otherwise running around, amongst adults of all ages.
We typically host community dances four times a year: March, June, September and November. Depending on the time of year, we host these dances at Ethel’s Acres (for a true barn dance experience!) or at the Ely Community Center.
Kraftskiva Potluck
Come celebrate summer with us during our Swedish Crayfish Party! A party centered around eating crayfish? What’s the story there? The Swedish Kraftskiva is a beloved August tradition, celebrating the historic crayfish hunting season.
Our Kraftskiva Potluck is an opportunity to both celebrate a beloved Swedish celebration and to provide education around aquatic invasive species present here in Northern Minnesota. The Swedes host annual crayfish parties (kraftskivas) in conjunction with the crayfish harvest season and we have the invasive Rusty Crayfish in our waters here.
We provide the crayfish, aquavit, decor, funky costumes, learning opportunities, and songs if you bring the side dishes!
We partner with the Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) and Ely Community Resource (ECR) to host this event.
Thanksgiving Potluck
Nothing says community quite like eating together. We love hosting potlucks with and for our community!
Every year we offer a Thanksgiving Potluck. This annual tradition is a great way to celebrate the community-centric day, with your Ely neighbors. This event has gotten so popular that we’ve started to split it into two seatings in order to best host everyone who is interested in joining!
The Thanksgiving Potluck began in 2017, when Betty Firth, then Program Coordinator, and Emily Brown desired a space to celebrate the holiday despite not having family in town or being unable to travel. Whether you're away from family or looking to start a new tradition, the Ely Folk School wants to welcome you.
We renovated our kitchen in 2025, reopening just in time for our annual Thanksgiving Potluck!
(Original kitchen pictured on the left; upgraded kitchen with triple the amount of counter space for potluck dishes on the right)
EFS ensures there is a turkey and we encourage folks to bring whatever they feel energized about making (or purchasing) to share but it is not required to bring anything in order to attend.
EFS Birch Bark Canoe Project
Community paddles of our Anishinaabe birch bark canoes take place at least once a summer.
Through our Birch Bark Canoe Project, the Ely Folk School community has built two wiigwaasi-jiimaanan (birch bark canoes).
Under the instruction of Erik Simula, who learned how to make a birch bark canoe from 20 Anishinaabe elders, participants in the Birch Bark Canoe Project spent time learning, teaching, processing, creating, and building each canoe. From harvesting wiigwaas (birch bark), wadab (roots), and bigiw (pine pitch) to steaming the waaginaag (ribs made from cedar), numerous volunteers have been witness and builder to all of it. Multitudes of hands have been involved in the process of building these canoes.
The 13ft wiigwaasi-jiimaan was built in 2016. After it was finished it was brought to Native elders during the summer powwow at the Lac La Croix village where it was blessed and named “Lac La Croix.” Starting in 2017, participants spent four summers building a 20ft wiigwaasi-jiimaan.
Read more about the project here.
We are honored to share such a beautiful tradition with so many in our community and we are ever grateful to the Anishinaabe elders who have participated and shared their stories along the way. Honoring that legacy, we would love for all of you to join us in paddling this community canoe.