Wine & Harvest Festival

Wine & Harvest Festival is a multi-day community wine and harvest festival held annually in Paw Paw, Michigan — a weekend-long event featuring wine tastings, 4 stages of live entertainment, a 5K run/walk, grape stomping competition, kayak race, fireworks over Maple Lake, and a parade, with the next edition scheduled for September 11–13, 2026. The festival takes place the weekend after Labor Day each year and draws participants across a wide range of activities, from winery tours to carnival rides and an annual car, truck, and motorcycle show.

Wine & Harvest Festival spans three full days and is organized around Paw Paw's downtown district, with events distributed across multiple venues including Maple Lake Amphitheatre, the Festival Tent, St. Julian Winery, Warner Vineyards, and Paw Paw Brewing Company. St. Julian Winery, described on the festival's official site as Michigan's oldest and largest winery, hosts live patio entertainment and wine-by-the-case specials throughout the weekend. Warner Vineyards offers tastings and sales of wines it notes have been served at the White House and at 2 Super Bowls. The Refresco Grape Stomp — a team competition requiring 4 participants — runs Friday evening and is one of the festival's signature events. A free Concord Trolley, sponsored by CSL Plasma, circulates between parking areas at the Middle School and Freshwater Church and festival venues throughout the weekend.

Festival hours run Friday from 5 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from 8 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. (with a Bike Tour beginning at 7 a.m.). Most individual events are free to attend or view, though cover charges apply at the Festival Tent after 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday ($10 per person), and some activities — including the Grape Stomp, Car Show vehicle entry, and Carnival Midway — carry separate participation fees. Prior registration is recommended for the Grape Stomp.

Paw Paw sits in Van Buren County in southwest Michigan, a region known for cool-climate viticulture along the Lake Michigan Shore AVA. The moderating influence of Lake Michigan supports grape varieties including Riesling, Pinot Noir, and Concord, and the presence of established wineries like St. Julian and Warner Vineyards reflects the area's decades-long winemaking heritage. Wine & Harvest Festival has been a community tradition in Paw Paw for decades, according to the festival's own historical archive.