Jobbie Nooner in southeast Michigan: a truly unique Metro Detroit tradition

LAKE ST. CLAIR , Mich. (FOX 2) - The Midwest's second biggest boat party is back on Lake St. Clair in Metro Detroit as Jobbie Nooner returns! 

The annual summer tradition is on Lake Saint Clair and takes place the last Friday of every June. It's boats, beverages, and bikinis - but also dad bods, debauchery, and drinking. 

Thousands are expected to tie up their boats around Gull Island on Lake St. Clair for a day of drinking. 

It all started more than 40 years ago when a group of autoworkers, who called themselves ‘Jobbies’ took off around noon to throw the biggest party of the summer. This is where the term Jobbie Nooner comes from.

Around 60,000 to 100,000+ people attend Jobbie Nooner every year and it's a bit like Mardi Gras on water.  

While it can be a great party - it can also be deadly. In 2021, a man died in Lake St. Clair as a storm blew through that weekend.

A 22-year-old man, who was wearing a life jacket, was pulled from the water just after midnight on June 28, 2021. He and a friend had taken a 14' aluminum boat to Jobbie Nooner and were trying to return to the shore when the storm blew in and their boat started to take on water. The man said he and his friend became separated and he wasn't sure where his friend was at in the water.

His body was recovered the next morning.

Jobbie Nooner, known as the Midwest's 2nd-largest biggest boat party, takes place on the last Friday in June every year and is not sanctioned by any government entity.

Jobbie Nooner (file photo)