The Michigan festival will expand to two days in October and feature sets by Desmond Jones, Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish, Melophobix, Watching for Foxes, Devin & The Dead Frets and several more acts.
Headliners: Desmond Jones will play three sets at the 2017 Cold Creek Campout. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)
FEBRUARY UPDATE: Organizers have added several bands to the Cold Creek Campout lineup, including Fauxgrass, Mark Lavengood, Conrad Shock & The Noise, Chirp, Dirt Road Remedy, The Legal Immigrants, Mystery 6, Native Howl, Stormy Chromer, The Underground Circus, The Zannies and more. Get details online here.
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Cold Creek Campout music festival will return in 2017, expanding to two days at a larger West Michigan venue and boasting an impressive slate of regional acts.
Relocating: Last year’s festival was held on property near Fremont. (Photo/Nathan Purchase)
Organizers announced this afternoon – on New Year’s Day – that the second annual Cold Creek Campout will take place Oct. 13-14 at Val Du Lakes Resort in Mears, south of Pentwater, with $45 early-bird tickets going on sale today through mid-September.
The two-day music festival will feature three sets (two electric and one acoustic) by Grand Rapids jam band Desmond Jones and performances by Bigfoot Buffalo, The Change, Devin & The Dead Frets, Flexadecibel, Eric Engblade Quartet, Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish, Loren Johnson, Low Spark, Melophobix, Smokin’ Dobroleles and Watching for Foxes, with six or seven additional acts expected to be announced in the future.
“We are pretty proud of it,” said Nathan Purchase, co-organizer of the festival spearheaded by executive producer Cameron Strong.
The inaugural 2016 event was held Oct. 22 on property near Fremont, with nine regional bands. It attracted a small but enthused turnout of fans. (The low attendance could be attributed in part to the festival having to move to a new location at the 11th hour in October due to a miscommunication over use of the original festival site in Hart.)
A VIBRANT HISTORY OF CONCERTS AT VAL DU LAKES
Val Du Lakes Resort is located at 1511 N. Wilson Road in Mears, east of Silver Lake State Park. The property has a rich history of hosting rock concerts, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, with appearances by Aerosmith, Megadeth, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Beach Boys and others.
Year 2: Poster by JL Designs
Strong said he was approached by one of the original owners of Val Du Lakes, Paul Erickson, about relocating there after he ran into venue issues in 2016.
Although things couldn’t get worked out in time for last year’s festival, Val Du Lakes’ new owners were interested in hosting Cold Creek Campout for 2017. Strong said he’s excited about the prospects of bringing music back to Val Du Lakes.
“The first year was really just the beginning for me,” said Strong. “I always knew I wanted to expand with the goal” of making Cold Creek a staple of Michigan’s music scene.
“Teaming up with Nathan has been a huge success for the both of us I believe, and this year I’m really hoping to showcase what our generation has to offer the music scene.”
The 2017 festival will boast two stages, overnight camping, overflow parking and other amenities. Details are available online here, with tickets available through brownpapertickets.com.
Early-bird tickets are $45 through Sept. 17, after which the price for general admission tickets rises to $50 through Oct. 4. Gate admission will be $55. Children 12 and younger are free. Camping costs $15.
“Expanding it to two days gives us a lot more freedom,” Strong said. “This year is boasting not only local but great regional talent as well.”
Cold Creek Campout: More camping and stages will be on tap for 2017. (Photo/Nathan Purchase)
Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC
