Michigan Chicken Wing Festival, Lansing

Each September, Michigan Chicken Wing Festival celebrates all things wings in a barbecue-centric send-off to summer. Award-winning pit masters flood Adado Riverfront Park, grilling up their best attempts at persuading wing enthusiasts to vote for them during the event's People's Choice Awards. Festival-goers can taste at their own pace—sampling wings from the likes of Pig In Pig Out and 2015 winner East Side Fish Fry—or they can put their chicken where their mouth is and try their hand at the wing eating contest.

Live bands, beer vendors, and local artists give folks plenty of non-poultry activities to distract themselves with. And youngins who haven't yet developed a love of wings can burn off steam in the KidsZone's game trailer, bounce houses, or obstacle course.