Deer River Hosts 71st Annual Word’s Largest Wild Rice Festival

The 71st annual World’s Largest Wild Rice Festival in Deer River is coming up this weekend.

The three-day event starts Friday evening and will take place in downtown Deer River. People can expect live music, carnival rides, food, a wild rice festival parade and fireworks.

The Deer River area and the Chippewa National Forest is known for wild rice. Deer River Wild Rice Festival Co-Chair Brad Box says the festival is a long-standing event organized by the Deer River Lions Club in the area.

“It was held to celebrate the wild rice crop,” Box said. “And it brought the community together and that’s still the main focus of the event, is community bringing the community together for food, family and fun.”

The family-friendly festival is free to attend.