Baldwin residents gathered for the last weekend of July to celebrate a festival that has easily been happening for over a decade, Troutarama.

Festivities began July 24th with the carnival kick-off and live music. Vendor Booths followed, with a beer tent and karaoke, and the last day celebrating the festivities with a parade and much more.

Kelsey Bennett, who is on the Troutarama committee, tells us"Well, we have a horse pull and concerts on Thursday night. We have a car show on Saturday morning as well as the 5K. We run an entertainment tent that has music, cornhole"

Deborah Smith-Olson, the wife of the President of Troutarama, adds "Thursday is our kids day. We have games. Old fashioned games, sack races, watermelon eating, seed spitting....And the highlight being the Scottville Clown Band that performs not only one time, but two times at Troutarama. So their performance is very entertaining."

And the Little King of Troutarama shared what his favorite part was.

Barrett says "There's so many rides. When the carnival rides get old, you get new ones. And there could be new games."

But how did Troutaroma get started?

Deborah says "This is our 68th year. And so we started 1956 this year and it was started because of just to celebrate the history of fishing in Lake County... And it's just been a long history. There were lots of fishing clubs that people came up from all around and surrounding cities"

Residents of Lake County welcome visitors to come and explore the area for the rest of the year, not just during festivities.

Deborah adds "Just like to have it welcome everyone to Lake County to see what we have here. Just like to have it welcome everyone to Lake County to see what we have here."

Click here if you are interested in joining the festivities next year, or any other events Baldwin has to offer.