Great Indoor Folk Festival ~ Feb 12, 2012
The 4th Annual Great Indoor Folk Festival takes place this Sunday, February 12 in Building 50 at the Grand Traverse Commons. The festival runs from noon to 5:30, and it is family-friendly and free, though you're encouraged to donate through "busker buckets."
There will be 6 different stages with over 50 musicians on seven different stages.
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The 4th Annual Great Indoor Folk Festival takes place this Sunday, February 12 in Building 50 at the Grand Traverse Commons. The festival runs from noon to 5:30, and it is family-friendly and free, though you're encouraged to donate through "busker buckets."
There will be 6 different stages with over 50 musicians on seven different stages. An article in this weeks Northern Express is well worth your time. They explain that the regional organization Songwriters in the Round is the driving force behind the event:
“It’s a community of really talented people. It’s an interactive family of musicians,” said Robin Lee Berry of Boyne City.
Berry will once again be part of the roster of performers. She will be singing and playing some of her original compositions along with some judiciously chosen covers.
“It’s a really wonderful experience,” said Berry. “I’ve been part of the Songwriters in the Round since its second year. It’s really brought a lot of musicians out of the woodwork.”
The list of performers is great, and many of them are from Leelanau - some highlights: Â Louan Lechler, Robin Lee Berry, Kirby, Dane Hyde & Greg Stanton, Dennis Palmer & Allison Brown, Sister Wilene, Cabin Fever, Jim Crockett & Friends, Blind Dog Hank and Dede and the Dreamers.
Hey everyone, we're super sorry that we've been away so much. To try and make it up to you, we're going to give someone on our email list* a pair of tickets to the Traverse City Winter Microbrew and Music Festival tomorrow morning!! This year is the 3rd annual, and it takes place this Saturday February 11th at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.
The annual festival is produced by Porterhouse Productions and features over 40 breweries, wineries, cideries, and meaderies - most from Michigan - along with local food vendors and beer & food pairings. A highlight of the festival is a wide range of entertainment featuring Funktion, Heatbox, The Crane Wives, Whitney Morgan and the 78s, Dragon Wagon and Rootstand. There's also fire dancers, live polka music and a silent disco. Click the poster to the right for all the details, and as it's an outdoor festival (with tents) you know that fashion = warm! (ie: Carhart over Calvin Klein!)
*If you're not on our list sign up at the top right. If you don't want to get our weekly email, just post a comment on the Leelanau.com Facebook or send an email to andy@leelanau.com saying you want to win and we'll add you to the list we draw from!
Speaking of polka, here's one of the polka bands that will be at the Microbrew festival, Squeezebox. There's a little dancing, but nothing like what you'll probably see closer to the polka capital of the USA, Cedar Michigan.
Building Bridges with Music presents a unique opportunity to hear one of Michigan’s great musicians perform in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, free for the community. Jeff Haas and his colleagues will be joined by international students from Northwestern Michigan College who will read brief excerpts from MLK speeches as part of the musical presentation.
The community remembrance starts at 5:30 pm with a proclamation from Traverse City mayor Michael Estes and an invocation from Rabbi Chava Bahle, followed by Haas’ presentation of original music including selections from his 2002 jazz suite, “The MLK Suite: Then & Now,” and excerpts from MLK speeches and writings. Haas will be joined by Laurie Sears on saxes & flute, Chris Lawrence on trumpet, bassist Jack Dryden and drummer Jordan Huggett.
“Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches and writings on civil rights were a regular topic at our dinner table growing up in Detroit in the late 50s and 60s with immigrant parents”, explains Haas. “Dr. King’s belief that all of our thoughts and actions are either based in love or fear really made a lot of sense to me as a youngster. And I have always tried to convey that in my music.” He goes on to say, “There’s still a lot of work to be done and I am grateful for this opportunity to come together with my community and recommit to doing the work to see Martin Luther King, Jr’s dream become a reality.”
The performance is free to all, and the State is also showing two movies for free: To Kill a Mockingbird and The Help. Visit the State Theatre website for complete details.
The Leelanau Enterprise reports that plans are in the works for the Bay Area Transit Authority (BATA) to provide a "beach bus" that would provide express service between points of interest along the Lake Michigan shore.
One route would start in Suttons Bay and end at Sleeping Bear Point with intermediate stops at Leland, Good Harbor, The Homestead and Glen Arbor...
Initial reaction to the beach bus proposal was favorable from Tom Ulrich, deputy superintendent of SBDNL.
“It fits right within our goals of providing an opportunity to visit the park without people having to drive from place to place … using gas and filling parking spaces,” Ulrich said. “If it’s simply a bus route to get people to the beach without cars, it sounds like a good idea to me.”
They note that another proposal in the works is a wine country shuttle that will be tested on the Old Mission Peninsula. Don Coe of Black Star Farms commented: “I know that public transportation has been used to promote tourism in other wine regions, such as the Napa Valley. It makes a lot of sense.”
In February 2012, a group of inspired people will be running 129 miles in five days across Palestine to raise funds to plant olive trees and also to raise awareness about the challenges of fair trade olive farmers of Palestine in the latest project from On the Ground.
This Friday (December 9th), Michigan's own Breathe Owl Breathe will play a very special benefit concert for the Run Across Palestine at Higher Grounds Roastery at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons in Traverse City. They are joined by Little Wings and it's also the release tour for their new project The Listeners.
Tickets are $12 advance / $15 door and available at Higher Grounds and Oryana. Doors open at 7 PM and the show starts at 8. For advance tickets, project information or to simply make a donation please call 877 825 2262. On the Ground supports sustainable community development in farming regions across the world.
This Friday October 28 at 7 PM at Higher Grounds coffee bar in Traverse City Seth Bernard & May Erlewine present "New Flower" in a very special Album Release Concert with Michael Shimmin, Brennan Andes, Joshua Davis and very special guest, Temesgen - an Ehiopian born, East Lansing based musican and teacher who plays traditional Ethiopian instruments, kirar and begena. Doors open at 7PM and Music starts at 8PM. Tickets are $20 in advance at Oryana and Higher Grounds Trading Co. ($25 at the door) with 5 and under free and $5 for 5-12 year olds.
Last January Seth and May took an incredible journey to Ethiopia with On the Ground and the Run Across Ethiopia. As the runners ran, they played in the schools, learned songs and dance moves from the children, learned Ethiopian scales and melodies from incredible ethio-jazz musicians, shared their music along the journey, sang for the runners, played for the people, and wrote an entire album inspired by the experience. They have been working on this album since they returned home to Michigan and they are finally ready to release it!
Get more details on Facebook and learn more about On the Ground and the Run Across Ethiopia at onthegroundglobal.org. Here's a cool video of Seth & May from Ethiopia last winter!
For the fourth consecutive year, Oryana Natural Foods Market(the community cooperative owned by thousands of area residents) will make a significant donation from its end-of-year proceeds to a worthy non-profit. Oryana Education and Outreach Coordinator explains:
"Cooperatives work for the sustainable development of communities. We are excited about this program, which gives us and our members a chance to formalize our practice of giving back."
Applicants must be a non-profit based in Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee or Wexford counties. Organizations who have been awarded Oryana’s Community Grant within the last five years do not qualify. The application and details are available right here and the deadline is December 1, 2011.
Oryana member-owners will have the opportunity to vote (one member, one vote) via ballot box in the store for the organization of their choice, and the grant recipient will be announced at the general membership meeting in April 2012.
The third annual Michigan Schooner Festival sets sail September 9-11, 2011 on West Bay in Traverse City at Open Space Park and Clinch Park Marina. The festival will feature eight tall ships including the Appledore V, Madeline, Welcome, Manitou, Pier Wisconsin's S/V Denis Sullivan and Leelanau's own schooner Inland Seas aka the Great Lakes Schoolship.
It kicks off Friday night (September 9) with the Grand Parade of Sail as the eight vessels sail down West Grand Traverse Bay together and dock at Clinch Marina. Other weekend highlights include ship tours, wine & beer tastings, food, entertainment, the Ring of Steel pirate reenactment troupe, artist vendors, kids games, and ticketed sailings aboard the schooners.
"We are very excited to have awarded the state championship road race to the Cherry-Roubaix event.The Cherry-Roubaix has continued to grow into a popular event in Traverse City and the surrounding area, and now, to have the Michigan State Road Race Championships as part of this event, brings it to another level."
~ Joe Lekovish, Director of the Michigan Bicycle Racing Association
Leelanau County and the Third Coast Bicycle Festhave scored a major event on the Michigan cycling scene, and also rounded out what was already one of the Midwest's best cycling weekends, the Cherry Roubaix.
It all starts tonight with the Downtown Drag Race sprints at Friday Night Live in Traverse City as bikers race head to head down the middle of Front street for prizes and bragging rights. There's also a kids bike rodeo and high-flying action on a BMX freestyle ramp.
Then on Saturday morning, the Charity Ride on Old Mission Peninsula to benefit the Munson Women’s Cancer Fund. That's followed by one of the highlights of the weekend, the fast-paced and exciting Old Town Criterium where riders fly around a closed course that twists & turns through the city streets and neighborhoods of Old Town. It's definitely not to be missed.
On Sunday morning the Cherry Roubaix Road Race returns cycle racing to Leelanau County. The Michigan State Road Race starts and ends in downtown Cedar and takes racers through a gear-shifting, lung-splitting, quad burning, 15.5-mile loop course.
There's lots more events this weekend and next week and weekend - head over to tcbikefest.org for all the details!
The 2011 Traverse City Wine & Art Festival takes place Saturday, August 20th from 3-10 PM on the beautiful front lawn at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, rain or shine. It's Michigan’s premier celebration of wine, art, food and music, offering an incredible opportunity to taste wines from 24 wineries as you dance, dine, and see extraordinary performers, art and artists.
The wines & wineries are the heart of the festival and the large wine tent is dedicated to featuring well over 100 wines from the Leelanau Peninsula, Old Mission Peninsula and - for the first time - Benzie County. Attendees can choose a tasting or full-glass pour and have a chance to talk with the winemakers and winery reps to learn more about the wines. The 2010 vintage is spectacular, and this is a fantastic opportunity to try the riesling, pinot gris, chardonnay, pinot blanc, cabernet franc and a host of other varieties that are making a lot of noise at wine competitions around the country!
The festival also features a great lineup with some of Michigan's finest musicians. Michigan jazz/folk great Claudia Schmidt kicks things off  and then joins Rachel Davis and Shout Sister Shout. It will be the first time Claudia and Shout Sister Shout have taken the stage together, an event that promises to be one of those "better not miss it" nights. Steppin' In It goes electric and will keep you dancing into the evening. There's also a wide range of performances including dancers, performance artists and the Sweet Adelines.
In addition to a wide selection of art for show & sale and gourmet food from many of the region's finest restaurants for purchase, there's even a chance for YOU to get into the act with "Fashion Is Art". This new feature that invites you to don your most innovative attire for a chance to win the Grand Prize, a spa weekend for two at Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa. Get tickets & lodging package information at traversecitywinefestival.com and check their Facebook for a ticket deal that ends TODAY.
The 4th Annual Great Indoor Folk Festival takes place this Sunday, February 12 in Building 50 at the Grand Traverse Commons. The festival runs from noon to 5:30, and it is family-friendly and free, though you're encouraged to donate through "busker buckets."
