Guides and Lists
Duluth Chapbooks: Poetry, Fiction, Comics, etc.
From laureates to total hacks, writers and other artists have compiled their works into inexpensive little booklets for hundreds of years. The history of street literature in Duluth has perhaps not yet been explored in depth.
Gathered in this post is by no means a comprehensive collection of chapbooks produced in Duluth, but rather just a smattering of publications that happened to be gathering dust in the Perfect Duluth Day library.
Got one to add? Mention it in the comments and/or email the cover art if you have it to: paul @ perfectduluthday.com. (more…)
Guide to Duluth-area Craft Alcohol During the Pandemic
Ursa Minor Brewing has offered curbside beer and pizza pickup via a drive-by canopy since April 8.
Small businesses have been struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 outbreak. Local craft beer, cider and spirits purveyors are finding ways to persist by distributing products through a variety of takeout, curbside pickup and delivery options. (more…)
Superintendents of Duluth Public Schools, 1870 to 2020
Minnesota’s Independent School District #709 was led by 29 individuals during its first 150 years. For the historical record we list here the superintendents of Duluth Public Schools from 1870 to 2020. (more…)
Selective Focus: Duluth-area Film Festivals in 2020
If you’re a fan of film or an aspiring filmmaker, here’s a quick list of festivals in the area you can get involved in by attending or submitting your work. Each has a different focus and flavor, but for those interested in the art of filmmaking, there are opportunities for involvement at many of levels beyond being an audience member. (more…)
Duluth-area Theater Primer 2019-2020
It’s the Halloween season, which of course means it’s time for witches and ghouls, but it’s also the time of year when the region’s theater companies get down to business. Here again is the PDD Theater Primer, where we hip you to all the haps on local stages for the next year. (more…)
Guide to Duluth-area Podcasts in 2019
Podcasts have been a thing for about 15 years, but the medium has only been popular for maybe five years. Duluth has followed that trend, going from just one or two downloadable online audio productions in the early days to more than a two-dozen now. Some are specifically about Duluth, others feature people from the region speaking to the world about subject matter ranging from popular culture to health and wellness. (more…)
Gallery of Defunct Duluth-area News ’Zines and Random Publications
From muckraking journalism to neighborhood fluff, sports and hobby content to political and spiritual propaganda, Duluth has seen its share of short-lived, themed newspapers and magazines. Previous posts on Perfect Duluth Day have delved into music ’zines and literary/arts ’zines; this post features the less (or bizarrely more) artsy publications. (more…)
Gallery of Defunct Duluth Music ’Zines
As a companion to Perfect Duluth Day’s “Gallery of Defunct Duluth Literary and Arts ’Zines” we now present the local underground music news publications that once spread the gospel of local rawk and/or roll. (more…)
Duluth Book Releases in 2019
Grasshopper Girl
Written by Teresa Peterson
llustrated by Jordan Rodgers
Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing
Rez Dog
Story by Heather Brink
Illustrations by Jordan Rodgers
Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing
(March)
Movin’ On: Using Moments of Challenge as a Springboard to Becoming More
Rod Raymond
Ramjet Events
(March 6)
Available at rodraymond.com
Gallery of Defunct Duluth Literary and Arts ’Zines
In addition to the various (“legitimate,” if you will) literary and arts magazines and journals in the Duluth area, past and present, there is a long tradition of renegade ’zines circulated for short periods of time. What’s technically the difference between the two? Well, a magazine or journal tends to have a glossy cover and be governed by an institution or a nonprofit board of directors. A ’zine tends to be printed on a photocopier for limited circulation and produced by an individual or disorganized group. (more…)
Duluth Broadcast Television Station Guide for 2019
Changes to broadcast television channel offerings used to be rare. From 1966 to 1999, Duluth had four channels. From 1999 to 2009, there were five. In the ten years since the switch from analog to digital channels, the total has climbed to 18. (more…)
Duluth-area beer production nearly tripled from 2014 to 2018
A bevy of craft breweries and brewpubs have found the Arrowhead region of northeastern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin to be fertile ground for growth. Five years ago, area craft breweries produced almost 20,000 barrels of beer. By 2018 that number nearly tripled to roughly 57,000 barrels. (more…)
Duluth Album Releases in 2019
Coyote
A Different Path
(Jan. 8)
Available on Bandcamp
T. Dack
Entropic Blue
(Jan. 17)
Available on Bandcamp
Station Ident
Volume One
Xero Music (Jan. 15)
Available on Bandcamp
List of Duluth Winters and What They Are Remembered For
Although Duluth is known for — and by some feared — for its winters, those blasts of snow and cold tend to run together in most peoples’ memories. Everyone who experienced it recalls the Mega Storm of 1991, and there was a long cold snap in 2014, but by and large the memories of various storms and other winter climate events get mashed together.
So, in an effort to sort them out, Perfect Duluth Day has tossed together a brief and somewhat vague list of some winter moments that have been marked on the website in the past (with links) or have been loosely referenced on the web as having been more wintery than other winters. (more…)
Guide to Duluth-area Restaurants Serving Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanksgiving is arguably the best holiday. It’s an opportunity to be grateful for what you have, eat delicious food and spend time with family (either blood or chosen). There’s no need to buy presents, go to church or decorate the house. The most stressful aspect of the day is the cooking. (more…)
List of Bands that Have Played Head of the Lakes Fair in Superior
The Head of the Lakes Fair is an annual tradition in Superior. The weekend event usually features bands performing on a stage in the center of the Superior Speedway. Often the headliner is a major touring act that is a bit past its prime. Below is a scattered list of bands that have played the festival. Because … nostalgia. (more…)
Brewing or Brewery? A Guide to Proper Beer Nouns in Duluth
With all the breweries popping up in Duluth and surrounding communities, it’s hard to keep the names straight. In casual conversation, no one really cares if you say “Earth Rider Brewery” or “Earth Rider Brewing,” but if you are one of the last copy editors in town who still has a job, for example, you might consider it important to distinguish which brew-suffix goes with each entity. (more…)
Duluth-area Radio Station Guide for 2018
The Duluth/Superior radio market is noted for two striking characteristics — an uncommon number of public-interest stations and an uncommon number of Christian stations. The commercial broadcast signals that fill out the rest of dial are mostly owned by two entities — Midwest Communications and Townsquare Media — although there are a few smaller station owners, like Northwoods Radio and Twin Ports Radio. (more…)
Duluth Book Releases in 2018
A Nice Relaxing Sea Cruise
Dale R. Botten
Page Publishing
(Jan. 18)
Web Watching: A Guide to Webs & the Spiders that Make Them
Larry Weber
Adventure Publications
(Jan. 25)
Chance Poems
Poems by Michael Kleber-Diggs, Julie Gard, Sheila Packa and Kathleen Roberts
Edited by Kathleen Roberts
Wildwood River Press
(Feb. 3)
Duluth Album Releases in 2018
Superior Siren
Self titled
(Jan. 12)
Sadkin
Reimagined
(Jan. 12)
Àlamode
Swell
(Jan. 13)
The Documentary
Daggers & Discord
(Feb. 13)
Available on Bandcamp
Ingeborg Von Agassiz
O Giver of Dreams
(March 15)
Available on ingeborgvonagassiz.com
Guide to Duluth-related Blogs in 2018
As far as blogs go, obviously Perfect Duluth Day isn’t the only show in town. And it must be noted the line where a blog crosses over from one person’s musings into becoming an online magazine is a fuzzy one. In spite of the inherent problems associated with labeling anything, below is PDD’s updated list of Duluth-area community blogs — an every-couple-of-year salute/guide to the individuals and small groups who crank out content like it’s 2007 instead of (or in addition to) just Facebooking, Instagramming and whateverelseing. (more…)
Duluth Broadcast Television Station Guide for 2017
The number of broadcast television stations in Duluth has reached 14. Keeping track of them started getting confusing in 2016, when reorganizing at KBJR/KDLH led to “CBS 3” broadcasting on channel 6.2. In an effort to prevent the whole thing from turning into an Abbott & Costello routine, Perfect Duluth Day periodically provides an updated list of channels.
There have been two changes since the 2016 KDLH/KBJR shuffling. In early 2017 WDSE-TV dropped its “2nd Chance” programming on channel 8.2 and adopted a new broadcasting stream, PBS Explore, which is focused heavily on programs for children. On Sept. 27, WDIO-TV added subchannel 10.3, broadcasting the Ion television network. An updated list is below. (more…)
Guide to Duluth-area Podcasts in 2017
Duluth and its surrounding communities are not necessarily known for their famous podcasts, but in recent years about a dozen productions have been pushed out to the internet and smartphones with the notion that people across the planet might be interested in Duluth’s take on birds, professional wrestling or whatever. (more…)
Perfect Duluth Day Outdoor Summer Concert Primer 2017
Summer is upon us (you can tell because that big hot bright ball is occasionally up in the sky), and that means a gaggle of outdoor concerts are in the PDD Calendar, ready for consideration. Of course, the usual suspects like Bayfront Festival Park and Big Top Chautauqua are in there, as are smaller series like Bayside Sounds, Chester Creek Concert Series and Summer (Mostly) Thursdays. Here’s a peek at some of the upcoming sure-to-be highlights:
June 16
Everclear
Canal Park
1990’s hitmakers Everclear, Vertical Horizon and Fastball perform during Grandma’s Marathon weekend in Canal Park.
June 16
Lake Ave Live 2017
Canal Park
Local original artists also get some tent time at this two-day tenttacular.
June 23
Warren Nelson
Big Top Chautauqua
The founder of Big Top Chautauqua, Warren Nelson, celebrates 50 years in show business with a concert of songs chosen from way back to now.
Annual Duluth-area beer production hits one million gallons
At the end of 2016 there were seven craft breweries in Duluth and nine more across the region. Another six are in the planning or soon-to-open stages in 2017. In the two years since Perfect Duluth Day conducted its first tally of the region’s beer production the total barrel output has grown from roughly 20,000 to nearly 35,000. That equates to more than one million gallons of craft beer locally brewed in 2016. By other measurements, it’s about 70,000 kegs, more than 8 million pints or more than 11 million 12-ounce bottles and cans.
The largest contributors to the recent growth were Bent Paddle Brewing and Castle Danger Brewing. Bent Paddle doubled its output over the past two years while Castle Danger grew six fold. Meanwhile, Moose Lake Brewing launched operations, Blacklist Artisan Ales opened a taproom and started canning, and South Shore Brewery opened an additional brewery and tasting room in Washburn.
In the year ahead, the brewing landscape is set to shift dramatically with the opening of a half-dozen new operations in the region. Newbies in the immediate Twin Ports area will be Hoops Brewing in Canal Park, Oakhold Farmhouse Brewery in Midway Township and Earth Rider in Superior. The Iron Range, home to only one brewing business in 2016 — the Boathouse in Ely — could soon welcome three more. Rapids Brewing Company and Cantankerous Brewing are in the works for Grand Rapids, while Boomtown Brewery plans to open at the former Zimmy’s Bar and Restaurant location in Hibbing.
Below is a breakdown of the 2016 stats.
Bent Paddle Brewing
30-barrel brewery and taproom, founded in 2013
1912 W. Michigan St., Duluth
Colin & Laura Mullen + Bryon & Karen Tonnis, co-founders; Charles Brodell, head brewer; Brent Rowe, regional sales manager; Pepin Young, taproom manager
2016 production: 15,700 barrels
Castle Danger Brewery
30-barrel brewery and taproom; brewery founded in 2011, taproom opened in 2014
17 Seventh St., Two Harbors
Clint and Jamie MacFarlane, owners; Lon and Mandy Larson, owners
2016 production: 9,200 barrels (est. for 2017: 14,000 bbl)
Fitger’s Brewhouse
10-barrel brewery supplying six pubs and a retail store, founded in 1995
600 E. Superior St., Duluth
Rod Raymond, owner; Ted Briggs, master brewer
2016 production: 1,862 barrels