The Memorial Day weekend festival will feature performances by Way Down Wanderers, Third Coast Kings, Fauxgrass, Nicholas James & the Bandwagon, Roosevelt Diggs and more. Tickets are now on sale.
VW Bandwagon: Nicholas James Thomasma and band are regulars at the Buses by the Beach Bus Benefit.
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West Michigan’s first music festival of the summer is less than two months away.
Reveling in the Lake Michigan shoreline, Volkswagen buses and regional music, the Buses by the Beach Bus Benefit will throttle up over Memorial Day weekend north of Holland.
The 2016 Lineup
The May 27-30 festival sets up at Camp Blodgett in West Olive, and performer and event advocate Nicholas James Thomasma wouldn’t think of spending the holiday weekend anywhere else.
In fact, he loves this annual festival and the VW buses that populate the event so much that he wrote a song about it, “Bus Life,” making Thomasma sort of the poster boy for the Bus Benefit.
“Buses by the Beach is so much more than just a music festival,” the Grand Rapids singer-guitarist said, noting that the annual event also raises funds for the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors.
“These people truly care about making a positive impact in other people’s lives. It’s an honor to be associated with them and tremendous feeling to be able to use my art for the well-being of others. If I’m the poster child for an event like this, I’m doing a lot of things right with my life.” (View a video of Thomasma’s “Bus Life” below.)
Nicholas James & The Bandwagon and The Change will perform at the festival on Friday, organizers have announced, with Tony LaJoye, Adrian & Meredith, Fauxgrass and Third Coast Kings playing on Saturday. The entertainment wraps up on Sunday, May 29, with sets by three popular West Michigan acts – Brother Adams, Olivia Mainville & The Aquatic Troupe and Roosevelt Diggs — and Chicago’s Way Down Wanderers.
Back Again: Roosevelt Diggs played the 2015 festival.
Buses by the Beach, founded in 2002, brings together VW bus lovers together for music, camaraderie and a good cause, helping raise money for the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors.
Fellow Michigan musician Joe VanAcker first invited Thomasma to the Bus Benefit seven years ago. He hasn’t missed one since, partly because the event attracts 75 to 100 classic VW buses and partly because it’s in a picturesque location, within walking distance to Lake Michigan.
Thomasma also praised the “community atmosphere, jam sessions and cookouts,” not to mention “a parade of buses” allowing attendees to explore each other’s vehicles.
“And when the sun goes down, the instruments come out,” he said. “Sometimes we will have 40, 50 people or more singing, jamming on ukuleles, guitars, harmonica, violins and upright basses.”
Weekend tickets are $65 in advance; $75 at the gate, plus a $10 non-VW vehicle pass. Early bird weekend tickets (available through April 15) are $50.
Get details and tickets online at busesbythebeach.org.
Community Vibe: Campsite jam sessions are common.
VIDEO: Nicholas James Thomasma, “Bus Life”
Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC
