The granddaddy of Michigan music festivals revealed its lineup this week, closing out a summer of festivals that launches in May. Get the link to an updated roster of all of the state’s festivals.
The End and The Beginning: Wheatland wraps up a hectic summer of festivals that kicks off with Movement and Bus Benefit. (Photos/Local Spins)
VIEW THE MICHIGAN FESTIVAL GUIDE HERE; SCROLL DOWN FOR WHEATLAND’S LINEUP
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
Michigan’s last major music festival of the summer has revealed its robust lineup, ensuring an eclectic celebration to close out a summer boasting 60 festivals across the state in 2026.
Wheatland Music Festival will roll out the 53rd edition of its three-day showcase of “traditional arts” — folks and roots music from across the glove — on its Remus festival site, Sept. 11-13, with high-profile artists such as Louisiana folk icon Mary Gauthier, Virginia bluegrass and Americana act The Steel Wheels, Cajun’s Lost Bayou Ramblers and California Chicagno folk outfit Las Cafeteras leading the charge on the 2026 bill.
But Michigan artists also play a huge role in this much-admired festival that likely boasts the highest return rate among Wheatland-goers (those who make it an annual tradition), including The Mark Lavengood Band, Silver Creek Revival, Molly, Sweet Dee & The Wild Honeys, Red Thyme, i.am.james, Kait Rose, Stanley & Quiggle, Elizabeth Landry, Aspen Jacobson, Michelle Held, Josh Rose, Kyle Joe, Billy King, The Blue Water Ramblers and more. Weekend tickets, $140 for adults, haven’t yet gone on sale.
Dee Sutton, of Sweet Dee & The Wild Honeys, told Local Spins that “being asked to play Wheatland is like being asked out by your lifelong crush, followed by the excitement and anticipation of wanting to put together one hell of a show. We are over the moon to be invited to play Wheatland.”
Sutton, who’s performed at Wheatland as a singer with other bands, called it “an honor to be recognized as a songwriter and to be able to perform these tunes with some of my favorite artists.”
Sweet Dee & The Wild Honeys: Playing Wheatland and Bus Benefit (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
“We’re so excited to be part of this amazing festival,” northern Michigan indie-folk band Silver Creek Revival posted on Facebook. “What an incredible lineup.”
On the flip side of summer, local and regional acts dominate the lineup for a Michigan festival that traditionally kicks off the outdoor music season: Bus Benefit hosted by Buses by the Beach at the Smiling Acres site in Trufant May 22-25.
And a couple of the same West Michigan acts spotlighted at Wheatland will usher in the summer at the Bus Benefit: Sweet Dee & The Wild Honeys and Stanley & Quiggle. They’ll be joined by Nicholas James & The Bandwagon, Roosevelt Diggs, The Wild Honey Collective, The American Hotel System, Debutants, The Local Commuters, Dunegrass and The Temperances.
Get more details online here, along with the lineup for acoustic performances on the Bus Benefit’s Wood Stage.
Size-wise, of course, that Memorial Day weekend event is overshadowed by an electronic music spectacle in downtown Detroit that attracts upwards of 90,000 people over three days: Movement returns to Hart Plaza with more than 115 acts on six stages May 23-26. This year’s festival features the likes of Sara Landry, Danny Brown, Carl Cox, Barry Can’t Swim, Delano Smith, DJ Holographic and many, many more. View the lineup and details at movementfestival.com.
(For a more intimate summer kickoff celebration, Earthwork Farm outside Lake City will host the one-day “Hollypalooza” on May 23 — a concert celebrating the life of Holly T. Bird — with Hannah Laine, Molly, Samantha Cooper, Seth Bernard, Aaron Otto, Jordan Hamilton, Somebody’s Sister & The Goodfellas and Joe Reilly. Details here.)
In between those Memorial Day events and Wheatland, Michigan will host another 60 music festivals in various locations across the state. View the exclusive, comprehensive roster of those festivals with website links in the Michigan Music Festivals 2026: The Guide at Local Spins.
Copyright 2026, Spins on Music LLC
