Our weekend music festival news round-up reveals lineups and band additions for several Michigan festivals, including Electric Forest and first-year events such as Baldwin’s Fresh Water Music Festival.
Festival Daydreaming: Some of the acts on tap for upcoming Michigan festivals. (Courtesy Photos)
As springtime struggles to make an appearance in Michigan, music festivals continue to burst at the seams with announcements and lineup additions aimed at piquing the interest of fans and getting folks in a summery mood.
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Here’s our latest Saturday music festival update with links to ticket sales and more information about events taking places across the state.
• SMILING ACRES – The Smiling Acres Music Festival taking place for the third year outside Trufant, Mich., will feature regional stars May Erlewine, Henhouse Prowlers, Airborne or Aquatic, Mark Lavengood Band, Cole Hansen, Jack Droppers & The Best Intentions, Cabildo, Silver Creek Revival, August, Josh Rose, Ben Traverse, Lighting Matches, Earth Radio, Round Creek String Band, After Ours, Whorled, Desmond Jones, Stella and many more.
View the lineup thus far for the June 30-July 2 event online here.
Tickets – $20-$95 – are on sale now online here, with weekend and single-day passes available for the festival hosted at 3060 N. Johnson Road, 36 miles northeast of Grand Rapids.
• ELECTRIC FOREST – The mammoth, sold-out, electronic music-propelled Electric Forest taking place June 22-25 at Double JJ Resort in Rothbury has added FLETCHER, STS9, Bob Moses, Cosmic Gate, Dabin, Infected Mushroom, Kerala Dust, Rusko B2B Dirt Monkey, Sad Night Dynamite, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Two Feet, Walker & Royce, Amémé, Bontan, Coco & Clair Clair, Daniel Allan, Devault, DJ Brownie, Dr. Fresch, EazyBaked, Elohim, ford., FORESTER, Kainalu, Kasablanca, Kasbo, Lee Foss, Malóne, MEMBA, Miane, N3ptune + Rusty Steve, PawPaw Rod, Phantoms, Politik, Tape B, Tkay Maidza, TRUTH, Very Nice Person and yunè pinku to its extensive bill. Check out the full lineup — led by Odesza, Illenium, Zeds Dead, Above & Beyond and String Cheese Incident — online here.
• CEDAR POLKA FEST – The 40th annual Cedar Polka Festival has announced that it will kick up its heels Aug. 24-27 under “the big tent” in Cedar, Mich., with performances by bands from across the country. The lineup includes Bavarski, Polka Generations Band, Scottville Clown Band, Alex Meixner, and Mollie B. & Ted Lange with Squeezebox.
The 40th annual polka fest celebrates Cedar’s “rich Polish history,” along with food, kids’ games and beer. Day passes are $10; get more details at cedarpolkafest.org.
Celebrating 51 Years: Charlotte Bluegrass Festival (Courtesy Photo)
• CHARLOTTE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL – One of the oldest, longest-running music festivals in Michigan, the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival, has added Full Cord, Crabgrass and Next Paige to the lineup for its festival taking place at the Eaton County Fairgrounds June 22-24.
The festival had previously announced an impressive roster that includes Lonesome River Band, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Edgar Loudermilk Band, Amanda Cook Band and more. Tickets are $80, if purchased by May 31, available online at charlottebluegrassfestival.com.
• UPHEAVAL FESTIVAL – Hard-rocking Michigan bands Eva Under Fire (who release a cover of “War Pigs” on April 14), Black Note Graffiti, In Our Wake and Of Virtue have joined the lineup for Grand Rapids’ Upheaval Festival taking place at Belknap Park July 14-15.
Tickets for the festival headlined by Bring Me the Horizon, Lamb of God, Falling in Reverse and Halestorm are $65 for a single-day pass; $119 for a two-day pass, available online here.
• FRESH WATER MUSIC FESTIVAL – The Fresh Water Music Festival will make its debut outside Fresh Water Cannabis Co. in Baldwin on June 3, with Michigan music, artisans, food trucks, beer sales and cannabis vendor tents. Performing at the 21-and-older, one-day festival will be Chirp and Audrey Ray. Get details online here.
• ONE PEACE FESTIVAL – Grand Rapids’ One Peace Festival will return to Martin Luther King Park on Aug. 12, with performances by a still-to-be-announced lineup of hip-hop artists and a goal of building “healthy communities through hip-hop culture and local advocacy.” The event will feature live music curated by HopeDealersGR, basketball and soccer competitions, “healthy” foods and drinks, local artists and mental health advocacy information. More info at onepeacefest.org.
• JACKSON BLUES FESTIVAL – The Jackson Blues Festival will take place June 8-10 outside Jackson at 10138 Tompkins Road in Rives Junction, with an updated lineup set to be announced in the near future. More on the festival’s Facebook page.
• FUNKY RIVERTOWN FEST – Ypsilanti’s inaugural Funky Rivertown Fest wraps up this weekend, with Saturday performances by the Billy King Band, Linden Thoburn Trio, J Michael & The Heavy Burden and Jive Colossus at the Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron St. The closing matinee and evening shows wrap up a week of live music that began Tuesday at the Rivertown Arts Center theater.
As always, find a full listing of Michigan festivals in Local Spins’ 2023 Michigan Music Festivals Guide.
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