Your 2018 Summer Festival Preview

The cancellation of two summer festivals at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons has paved the way for a new event to come to the property, while several other event organizers are gearing up for the season in The Ticker’s guide to upcoming 2018 Traverse City summer festivals.

Suds & Sun – June 16, 2018
The organizers of the annual Suds & Snow craft beer festival at Timber Ridge Resort in March are launching a new summer version at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons following the departure of two other events from the site.

Neither the Traverse City Wine & Cider Festival (formerly the Traverse City Wine & Art Festival) nor the Traverse City Summer Microbrew & Music Festival will take place at the Commons this summer. After the wine festival changed brands and hands last year – becoming managed by Dylan and Ashley Davis instead of the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association – the LPVA has since taken back over the festival, Executive Director Lorri Hathaway tells The Ticker. However, the association didn’t have enough lead time to execute the event this year, so the wine festival is “taking a year off,” Hathaway says.

Meanwhile, Porterhouse Presents will not rent the Commons this summer for the Microbrew & Music Festival, confirms Raymond Minervini of The Minervini Group, which manages the property. After acquiring former Mancelona ski resort Mount Mancelona last year, Porterhouse Presents moved its winter version of the microbrew festival from Traverse City to Mancelona in February. The company could not be reached for comment on whether its August festival will also take place this year at Mount Mancelona, or if the festival will be canceled outright.

The event void left an opportunity for a new festival to come to the Commons, says Suds & Snow organizer Troy Daily. “There aren’t any summer microbrew events anymore in Traverse City, so we felt like it was a good opportunity to showcase Michigan breweries in that setting,” says Daily. “It’s right after school gets out when the weather is getting warm before everything else takes off for the summer season, so it felt like a good kickoff to summer. We’re looking to partner with the Commons on making this a long-term, growing event."

The new Suds & Sun festival – scheduled for June 16 from 2pm to 8pm – will feature 20+ craft breweries serving beer, wine, and cider, local food vendors, and two live music stages featuring acts including Benjaman James, Hell In A Bucket, G-Snacks, and 2Bays DJs. Tickets for the 21+ event are $35 for early bird tickets or $45 for day-of admission. A VIP ticket is also available for $65. For more info, click here.

Experience Art Rapids – June 9-22, 2018
A two week-long event in Elk Rapids is expanding this year to feature 386 works of art by 127 artists displayed at 35 venues throughout the community, juried and people’s choice cash prizes, and a new slate of events.

Experience Art Rapids will offer exhibits of sculptures and two and three-dimensional visual art June 9 through June 22 – much of which will be available for purchase by festival attendees – as well as prizes for artists in several categories totaling $7,000. Several new events are in store this year, including a two-week foreign film festival hosted by Elk Rapids Cinema featuring six films with multiple daily screenings, an opening eve artists’ reception at Twisted Fish Gallery June 8, a public interactive art project, plein air painters, a pop-up gift store, and family-friendly events like a Doodle Day at Twisted Fish Gallery and Painting Puzzles with Youth at the Village Market.

Event board chair Becky Lancaster says “overwhelming reaction” to last year’s inaugural event prompted the festival’s expansion. For more info, click here.

National Cherry Festival – June 30-July 7, 2018
The complete lineup of headliners set to take the stage at the National Cherry Festival is now finalized following the festival’s announcement Tuesday of the last act confirmed for this year's event. Eight-piece funk band Here Come The Mummies will join acts including Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Loverboy, Dan + Shay, Buddy Guy, Three Days Grace, Sheryl Crow, Dustin Lynch, and Darci Lynne performing during the week-long festival at the Pepsi Bay Side Music Stage.

This year’s festival will also feature the return of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels; the Heritage, Junior Royale, and Cherry Royale parades; multiple foodie events; and the Festival of Races, among 150+ events and activities on deck. For more info, click here.

Great Lakes Equestrian Festival – July 4-August 12, 2018
The Great Lakes Equestrian Festival will return to Flintfields Horse Park in Williamsburg this summer, hosting nationally and internationally rated hunter/jumper competitions, weekly classes, and classics for children, junior, adult, and amateur-owner riders. Each week during the six-week festival, GLEF will also hold classes for young horses, open jumper classes, and professional hunter derbies, culminating every Sunday with a grand prix show jumping competition. Event organizers have made “extensive improvements and upgrades” to the park this year to install “world-class” footing in its competition rings for riders, according to GLEF. For more info, click here.

Traverse City Film Festival – July 31-August 5, 2018
Now heading into its thirteenth year, the Traverse City Film Festival is busy finalizing its list of film selections for this year's event from among the "hundreds of great films we've seen this past year," says TCFF Creative Director Meg Weichman. The festival will release its full schedule June 29. In addition to the usual roster of special screenings, panels, parties, and other events, TCFF is also letting the public vote and help choose one of the free films that will play nightly in the Open Space in downtown Traverse City. This year's "people's choice" options include E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ghostbusters, A League Of Their Own, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Budding filmmakers can also take a shot at winning $1,000 in the TCFF bumper contest - open now - that solicits 20-60 second short films to play before TCFF screenings. The contest deadline is July 9. For more info, click here.

Leland Wine & Food Festival (June 9, 2018) and Leelanau Peninsula Wine on the Water Festival (July 21, 2018)
While GT Commons may not host a wine festival this summer, festivalgoers can still sample local varietals at two other events. The Leland Wine & Food Festival will offer award-winning wines from 12 Leelanau Peninsula wineries and one local brewery on June 9 next to Leland Harbor from 12pm to 6pm. The event will also feature eight local food vendors and live music from Bad Jam and TC Knuckleheads. Tickets are $15 in advance or $25 at the door. For more info, click here.

On July 21, 10 Leelanau wineries, a distillery, a brewery, and several Leelanau restaurants will be showcased at the Leelanau Peninsula Wine on the Water Festival from 1pm to 7pm at Marina Park in Suttons Bay. Live musical entertainment will be provided by Soul Patch and Levi Britton, among others. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the gate. Proceeds from the event benefit the Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. For more info, click here.