Midland River Days 2025: Family fun, food, live music, and hot air balloons

What began decades ago as a tribute to the history of Midland is now a full-fledged free family festival touting inclusivity and providing something for everyone. The Main Street Balloon Glow kicks off the event at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, with hot air balloons being a central theme of the festival.

River Days is an initiative of the Midland Area Community Foundation to “celebrate summer.” Communications Officer Kevin LaDuke, leading marketing and PR for the event, says, “We have four main ‘buckets’ of the festival: balloons, food, music, and fireworks.” 

“The former RE/MAX balloon festival was absorbed into River Days about eight years ago,” says Samantha Jones, Director of Development at the Foundation and River Days organizer.

Hot air balloon glows and fly-ins will be featured events every day of the festival, concluding with an early morning fly-in at Chippewassee Park on Sunday, Aug. 3. She says around 15 pilots, the maximum capacity for the area according to FAA regulations, will participate. 

 A great lineup of food will also be part of the weekend festivities, including an array of food trucks along the rail trail to the west of the former farmers’ market area – the area referred to as the festival grounds. Midland Rotary Clubs will host a cheeseburger dinner on Friday evening and will also sponsor the beer/wine tent throughout the weekend, while the Lions Club will host their traditional chicken dinner on Saturday.

In addition, Three Bridges Distillery on Main Street will host a beer garden, or what Jones says is a “giving garden. They will be donating a portion of their proceeds to the festival.” There will also be a taco-eating contest with pre-registration required.

Live music will be presented both at the Bob Johns Stage, where Tunes by the Tridge takes place, as well as on the downtown stage. This festival has “a vast geographic footprint,” Jones says. 

Part of the reason for that, besides logistics, is an effort to provide something for everyone. LaDuke says the kids’ zone will be near the Tridge with different kinds of programs and events taking place on Main Street. “We’ll have a variety of offerings appealing to multiple generations,” he says. 

Besides the “four buckets” and the food and music, three special attractions are planned for young people: the Super Slide, Pirates Revenge, and the Bungy Tower. Jones says there will be a river clean-up, a historical area with blacksmiths, chess, and tug of war. “We have it all.”

Jones says between 75 – 100 volunteers and a 25-person planning committee help bring River Days together for attendees that have numbered up to 10,000 at a time in past years. Community organizations like the Midland Historical Society and the Chippewa Nature Center also contribute.

LaDuke credits sponsors such as Fisher Companies, the presenting sponsor for 2025, with essential financial support. Both sponsors and volunteers are still being accepted.

“River Days is a convergence of people coming together at the most iconic location in Midland – The Tridge. When folks love and are involved in their community, they make it better, and this benefits community development,” Laduke says. “We just want people to have a great time celebrating our community.”