On Friday, Oct. 2, the Houghton High School hosted Plaidurday, the worldwide celebration of the plaid pattern, as a part of the Canal Colors Festival. Every year since Oct. 2023, Houghton has joined in this celebration by gathering as many people wearing the pattern into one spot for a photo that attempts to break the world record for most people wearing plaid. This year, the final count came out to 1,083 people.
Jesse Wiederhold, Managing Director for Visit Keweenaw, said “[Planning] start[ed] about three months ago. We are meeting practically weekly, planning things, making phone calls, making sure things are happening right and settled before the event.” Wiederhold also talked about the way the community is important to him and this event, saying, “Me, personally, I truly love the fall season, love the Keweenaw, and I love to bring people together.”This celebration of something so simple, a pattern in fashion, can mean a lot to this community. It gathered young and old, even a local nursing home had a group come. Naomi Michaelson, a special education teacher at Houghton High School, thought that the event demonstrated “everybody sharing a singular purpose of just enjoying the community. It’s just the whole community comes together, whole organizations, like everybody is here.”
This celebration encourages communities to gather together and form strong bonds between generations and each other. It gives a reason to organizations to get involved with individuals. This informal holiday is one celebrated all over the world bringing groups closer to the community and it has become a mainstay of Houghton County.
