Leelanau County’s longest running auto show is back this Saturday at Haserot Park and celebrating its 27th anniversary in the village of Northport.
Cars in the Park started in 1998, attracting car enthusiasts and spectators alike year after year. Darin Irvine, son of the late George Irvine who founded and ran the car show for many years, said the symbiotic relationship between the automobile owners and onlookers helps make the event both a social and meaningful one where all who attend can have a good time.
“It’s kind of a social event that people can count on. I’m still getting a lot of pre-registrations with people saying it’s their first time coming to the show… There’s a lot of people that come up here for Memorial Day weekend, and the car show is just one of the things that they do,” Irvine said. “In contrast, we have quite a few cars that have come to every single show — they had their car at the first show and they’ve been to every single one, so that kind of speaks to the social aspect of it and the people who come to it every year. They meet other people who have been coming either for a long time or most of the shows anyway.”
