Local Spins Rewind · Summer Festivals
They’re eight hours and worlds apart, but both of these Michigan festivals boast uber-loyal fans. So with COVID scuttling their 2020 events this weekend, Local Spins gives devotees a look back at last year’s celebrations in words and images.
Local Spins Rewind · Photos · Summer Festivals
If not for COVID-19, Hoxey would have been reveling today amid northern Michigan splendor. So, Local Spins looks back at the 2019 celebration that boasted plenty of “beautiful” musical highlights – in words and photos.
Local Spins Rewind · Photos · Summer Festivals · Videos
The good-time vibe of last year’s festival may have made it the best in Cowpie history, thanks to The Bootstrap Boys, Fauxgrass, Mark Lavengood, Desmond Jones, Trifocal, Melophobix and more. COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 festival that would have taken place this weekend, but you can relive the highlights from last year’s celebration in words, photos and videos at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Summer Festivals
Due to continued COVID-19 concerns, northern Michigan’s Farmfest has finally bowed to the pandemic and plans to return to the Johannesburg farm in 2021.
Local Spins Rewind · Photos · Summer Festivals
Usually, mid-July means Beaver Island teems with music from its festival in northern Lake Michigan. With the event canceled due to COVID, things were quieter this year, so Local Spins looks back at highlights from 2019 in words and photos.
With 2020’s festival canceled due to COVID-19, Local Spins looks back at a 2019 country music celebration in Jackson County that drew more than 40,000 fans for sets by Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Zac Brown and more. Check out the photo galleries and recaps of last year’s performances.
Local Spins Rewind · Photos · Summer Festivals
This year’s Blissfest has gone online for virtual performances through Sunday. But the in-person, 39th edition of the northern Michigan festival may have been the most memorable in history. Relive this special festival in words and photos at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
Two more August music festivals in Michigan have decided to skip 2020 due to the pandemic, with September’s jazz festival in Detroit turning to an elaborate live-stream and televised event. Get the details at Local Spins.
Local Spins Rewind · Photos · Summer Festivals · Videos
The 10th Electric Forest isn’t happening this weekend due to COVID-19, so Local Spins has 10 great memories — in words, photos and video — from last year’s festival in Rothbury to satiate the Forest Family. Relive the moments.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
Due to COVID-19, Hoxeyville in Wellston and the 20th annual Earthwork Harvest Gathering outside Lake City won’t take place. Harvest will instead move to “Zoom room” programs, videos and more. Find out more about the decision and get details about Harvest’s virtual event at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Summer Festivals
Due to COVID-19 concerns, Beaver Island has reversed course and pulled the plug on its July event, joining Dunesville and the Grand Rapids Fourth of July celebration in canceling for 2020. But the Marshall Bluegrass Festival is still a go. Get the latest news at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
The Aug. 6-8 music celebration on a Kent County cattle farm has been scrapped due to COVID-19, but a festival the same weekend on a farm east of Gaylord will boast a robust lineup of regional stars with new safety precautions. Get details about both festival announcements at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
Michigan’s hallowed Wheatland in September is bowing to COVID-19 out of safety concerns. But organizers of a mid-July festival on an island in northern lake Michigan still plan a mini-event with limited crowds. Get details about both festivals at Local Spins.
Although Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently allowed the region to reopen bars and restaurants with some restrictions, many venues still aren’t hosting live music and musicians remain wary. Check out the latest report in a Local Spins series about the challenges facing live music as the coronavirus pandemic winds down.
Local Spins Rewind · Photos · Summer Festivals
A tradition over Memorial Day weekend, the Bus Benefit south of Grand Haven always signaled the start of Michigan’s festival season. COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 event, so Local Spins decided to revisit last year’s celebration in words, photos and some video highlights. Amid the current pandemic, they’re magical, bittersweet memories.
Breaking music news · Traverse City
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer today announced easing COVID-19 restrictions for restaurants and bars in the Traverse City area and the U.P. for Memorial Day weekend, but social-distancing still critical and a big concern. The story and comments from a shuttered Traverse City brewery at Local Spins.
Features · Weekend Photo Gallery
Today’s entry in our series spotlighting Local Spins photographers focuses on Nathan Purchase, with his favorite concert photos of artists such as Umphrey’s McGee, Tame Impala, Billy Strings, My Morning Jacket, Greensky Bluegrass and, of course, Desmond Jones. View the photos and get the stories behind his classic shots.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
Leaders of the July festival starring The 1975 and Khalid join live music event organizers in other Michigan cities – Muskegon, Grand Rapids, Rockford and Niles – in pulling the plug on summer musical celebrations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Concert announcements · Summer Concerts · Summer Festivals
Scrapped due to COVID-19, the popular northern Michigan series at Interlochen is among numerous live music events slated for summer 2020 across the state that are being dropped, postponed or revised. Get details and see an updated list of festival cancellations at Local Spins.
Features · Weekend Photo Gallery
Starting her concert photo career with Local Spins several years ago, photographer Anna Sink shares some of her favorite images — her unique take on bands, fans and festivals, and the stories behind those shots. And check out a photo gallery with more images of festivals, Michigan stars and more.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals · Videos
With COVID-19 wiping out live shows and downtown’s Festival of the Arts, May 15 is the deadline for local artists and performance groups to submit short videos for the Virtual Arts Festival. WOODTV.com will live-stream accepted entries the first weekend in June. Get details and the link for submitting videos at Local Spins.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
Citing assembly restrictions and safety concerns sparked by the COVID-19 crisis, both Michigan festivals canceled 2020 events and hope to host some online alternatives instead. Get the details at Local Spins. It’s “a time of uncertainty,” says performer May Erlewine.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
Unable to overcome a “hurdle of uncertainty,” summer festivals such as this one in the Upper Peninsula are calling it quits for 2020, while others hope they’ll be able to continue as scheduled. Some communities, meanwhile, are delaying their free summer concerts until July.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
The small, fourth-year festival north of Grand Rapids hopes the COVID-19 crisis will ease by late summer, allowing The Go Rounds, Charlie Millard and other regional acts to perform. See the full lineup and get the back story about how organizers are adjusting to pandemic concerns.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
Citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, the music festival hosted by Buses by the Beach along Lake Michigan between Holland and Grand Haven announced that it was forced to take the year off, with plans for returning in 2021. It joins the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival, Summer Solstice Jazz Festival, Dam Jam and other events which have recently canceled 2020 celebrations. Get details at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
After weeks of speculation, festival organizers made the decision to cancel the sold-out late June festival in Rothbury. Ticketholders can retain their wristbands for 2021 or request refunds. Get details at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
The longstanding, much-beloved event near Harbor Springs was to celebrate its 40th anniversary this year, but won’t take place due to COVID-19. Find more information and links at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
The mammoth, one-day country music celebration hosted by radio station B-93.7 was to take place on June 20, but will be pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Get details at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Summer Festivals
The beloved northern Michigan and Upper Peninsula music festivals that take place in June and July, respectively, cited uncertainty and concerns about the health of attendees, musicians and volunteers in moving the events to 2021. Get more details at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
Another Michigan music festival has fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic. This time, it’s the relatively young Camp Greensky hosted by Greensky Bluegrass. Get details at Local Spins, along with news about other June festivals.
Summer Festivals · Upcoming shows
Most May festivals will no longer take place and organizers of June events are eyeing postponements amid the coronavirus pandemic. Get the update at Local Spins.
Summer Festivals · Top 10 Lists
A record number of readers responded to our annual poll, with Wheatland Music Festival coming out on top for 2020, followed closely by Buttermilk Jamboree and Nor-East’r. See what else made the Top 10 and our list of honorable mentions, along with festivalgoer comments, festival website links and details about each featured festival.
Breaking music news · Summer Festivals
The 51st edition of the downtown festival was slated to take place in early June but is being shelved with “the community’s best interests in mind.” One performer called it “heartbreaking.” Details at Local Spins.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
The June festival with a “cooperative spirit” held at Circle Pines Center south of Grand Rapids also will feature May Erlewine, Last Gasp Collective, Nicholas James & The Bandwagon and a tribute to Dacia Bridges. See a roster of 2020 performers and watch videos featuring the headlining acts at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Festivals
After Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recommended state residents avoid large gatherings, street party organizers postponed the event to summer. And concert venues are “feeling uneasy” amid this “uncharted territory.” Read more about the reaction to this pandemic at Local Spins.
Breaking music news · Local Spins at SXSW
With concerns about the outbreak swirling, organizers of the Michigan House pop-up venue in Austin had held off travel to Texas, but are disappointed with the unprecedented decision to scrap SXSW for the first time in 34 years.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals · Videos
The August festival outside Wellston, Mich., will also feature the likes of Sweet Water Warblers, Michigan Rattlers, Luke Winslow-King, The Go Rounds and more. See the full roster of performers at Local Spins and watch recent videos of the headliners. Tickets are now on sale.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
The 18th festival in August will be the last under the Cowpie moniker, with a new arts and music festival set to replace it in 2021. See all the artists who’ve been booked for this year’s festival thus far.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
The two-day festival at Belknap Park will now be one of six Breakaway festivals nationwide, promoters announced today. Get details at Local Spins.
Announcements · Summer Festivals
West Michigan is still in the throes of winter but regional bands and solo acts need to start thinking summer – especially if they want to play Festival in June. Details at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Festivals · Photos · Videos
Hundreds of revelers and runners gathered outside the Comstock Park brewery Saturday for sets by The Crane Wives, Hacky Turtles, Melophobix and Crosscut Kings. The recap, photo gallery and video highlights at Local Spins.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals · Upcoming shows
The announcement of the initial lineup for the June festival came the same day that Billy Strings revealed he’s mounting a February tour of intimate Michigan venues with his dad. Find out who else is playing Camp Greensky and which cities are part of the “Family Strings” tour.
The producer of the popular Michigan music festival took to Reddit this week to address everything from the 2020 lineup of performers to long lines. Here are some of his responses from that online exchange.
Announcements · Summer Festivals
The Local Spins Readers’ Poll is back for 2020. Pick your favorite Michigan music festivals and tell us why they rock your world, and we’ll enter your name in a drawing for a fabulous Local Spins gift package that includes two tickets to a Michigan festival.
Features · Local Spins Rewind · Summer Festivals
With interest in Michigan music festivals at an all-time high, the Local Spins 2019 Readers’ Poll put Blissfest at No. 1 — and at the top of our list of most-read stories of the year. Revisit the poll, with a link to Local Spins’ exclusive listing of 2020 Michigan music festival dates.
Commentary · Summer Festivals · Upcoming shows
Musicians and prospective festival organizers have “sold out” a Tuesday networking/roundtable session at Grand Rapids’ Listening Room probing the mysteries – and basics – of music festivals. Learn more about the session and get some tips from a veteran festival organizer and musician.
Concert announcements · Summer Festivals
Mainstay and ‘house band’ The String Cheese Incident, not surprisingly, is also part of the lineup announced today for the 10th anniversary celebration of the Electric Forest festival in Rothbury, Michigan. See the full roster of acts playing next June. Advance sales of wristbands begin Wednesday.
Breaking music news · Summer Festivals
The Electric Forest announcements top news items about several 2020 Michigan music festivals. Get the lowdown on new Electric Forest features, changes in other Michigan festivals and links at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Photos · Summer Festivals · Videos
Last weekend’s Earthwork Harvest Gathering endured rainy weather to roll out a host of memorable performances by Michigan artists for a record crowd, not to mention a wedding and more. The recap, photo gallery and video highlights at Local Spins.
Concert reviews · Photos · Summer Festivals · Videos
The season-ending Lake City-area music festival drew hundreds of musicians and thousands of revelers for an opening salvo of magical experiences. Check out the first-day highlights and a photo gallery at Local Spins.
