More than 65 vendors attended the recent 29th annual U.P Boat, Sport and RV Show, nearly filling up the entirety of the Superior Dome in Marquette. (Journal photo)

MARQUETTE — The recent 29th annual U.P Boat, Sport and RV Show has come and gone and has seen thousands come to the Superior Dome in Marquette to enjoy the annual spring event.

This show was the largest yet, and had over 65 vendors, four new power sports companies, food vendors, multiple prize games for kids and even the new upcoming Marquette RV store Airstream was there, said show officials.

Sarah Kimar, the show organizer, described how much this particular show meant to everyone involved.

“We have been here for 30 years, except COVID, the show was started by my dad who passed away unexpectedly last year,” she said. “So I took the show over because the show must go on.”

Show officials now hope to keep the things going and to honor David Kimar with it for the following years.

Family and community play a big part in the show, from vendors to event goers, says Kimar.

“These vendors, many of them have been here since the beginning. I grew up with a lot of these people, we are like a big family here,” she said, adding that the event puts an emphasis on family fun.

One prominent tradition is an indoor live fish pond, where kids can catch fish for prizes. This pond is no longer run by the show but by Watersmeet Hatchery.

“I worked at that fish pond when I was a kid, a lot of the people who fished here when they were kids have their own kids and are now taking them to fish it,” she said. “We try to make it fun for the whole family.”

As far as games were concerned, event attendees also had plenty of options of different types of vendors,

“We have vendors from all over the U.P. from the Soo all the way up to Houghton and even a couple vendors from downstate and Wisconsin too,” said Kimar.

She also said that anything people have fun doing outdoors could be found at the show, from pontoon boats, to fishing gear, to hunting equipment, and even unusual items like an upright snowmobile or a pontoon sauna.

Though the event has just finished, they are already selecting businesses to attend next year.

“We are already planning the show for next year so we will announce the dates as soon as we have them and if people are interested in the show they should get on the wait list now, because we already have a wait list for next year,” she added.

To register for the 30 annual U.P Boat, Sport and RV show, go to upboatshow.com.