The brooms are out and Northport is back to its sleepy ways after celebrating the biggest party of the summer/fall as Leelanau UnCaged lit up the streets on Saturday.
Northport hosted thousands of visitors for the all day festival that featured music, dance, and food.
The weather was just about as perfect as it gets, sunny and 75 degrees.
“We had some great weather in the beginning, but in recent times this weather was unmatched ... I heard from a couple who said they had to park farther away than the fireworks,” Ager said. “We are deeply grateful to the hundreds of volunteers that work to make this happen,” Susan Ager, committee member said. “Particularly the regulars who keep coming back and the first timers that drive up here to be with us.”
The all-volunteer festival is still tallying the official numbers of this year’s festival. But it’s safe to say it was a success for one of Michigan’s free music festivals. Roughly 9,500 visitors visited UnCaged, up 1,500 than what was expected. UnCaged costs roughly $50,000 to happen, mostly through donations and grants. Funding comes from private donations along with generous grants from the Leelanau Township Community Foundation and from Andy and Gloria Thomas.
“The weather was great. It was busy and the layout was different,” Leelanau UnCaged food director Brian Hafner said. “The overall vibe or feedback has all been overwhelming.”
This was the 10th year of UnCaged after taking a couple years off due to COVID.
UnCaged took a different view on serving food, using a food court that Hafner says was a success.
“As far as vendors for the food court returned, they had the best year and the new ones had a good experience. Having the food court in one spot, opened up the streets and took the generators off of the road,” Hafner said.
For the first time in UnCaged history, dancers were properly showcased with many different styles from local dance groups. The Traverse City Dance Project allowed the festival to rent its portable stage to welcome cultural dance, modern, ballet, jazz, and hip-hop dancers.
Other than one audio hiccup, the event went on to perfection.
“The sound equipment overheated from the sun and the music cut out. Those two dancers, Zach and Sarah from TC Dance Project handled it professionally and didn’t miss a beat. They didn’t flinch and kept it going,” UnCaged board member Karen Cross said. “We’ve never had such a beautiful collaboration (with TC Dance Project) than we had on Saturday.”
Cross is looking to have a dance show of this kind as a yearly event at UnCaged.
“I was blown away by the reception from the crowds,” Cross said. “It was beyond my expectation and a beautiful experience.”
Cross thanks the many volunteers that took the time to help put on a successful dance show during UnCaged.
