The 14th annual Great Indoor Folk Festival will be held Sunday, Feb. 25 at the Village of Grand Traverse Commons.
Several Leelanau County musicians will be among 100 performers at the festival to be held in The Mercato at Building 50.
As many as 1,000 festival goers have attended each year, enjoying free music at the family- oriented event which will feature northern Michigan’s folk, bluegrass and acoustic music on eight stages.
“This is one of the top events of the year for many local musicians and a way to beat the winter blues,” said Adair Correll, co-founder of Northern Michigan Songwriters in the Road, the singer-songwriter association which hosts the event along with The Village TC. “As in the past, we’ve added a number of new acts this year to showcase the area’s talent.”
Newcomers this year include David Bowen, Trillium Groove, Ben Traverse, Charlie Arnett, Luke Woltanski, Lynn Callihan, Terry Coveyou, Edison Kitt, Julianne Ankley, Samantha Goodell and several Interlochen student singer songwriters. Returning oldies but goodies will include stars of the local acoustic scene, including The Jim Crocket Band, Song of the Lakes, New 3rd Coast, Riggs and Jeels, Runaway Mule, Saldaje and many others.
The festival’s roots sprang from the Northern Michigan Songwriters in the Round, which began performing monthly shows at Horizon Books in Traverse City in 1997. The shows continued until fall of 2017 on the third Friday of each month at 8:30 p.m., with three musicians trading original songs.
In 2005, the songwriters launched the annual party and jam in Building 50. The party planted the seed for the Great Indoor Folk Festival, which was an immediate hit with the public at its debut in 2009.
The event will be held from noon to 5:30 p.m. at Building 50 in the Grand Traverse Commons, with additional acts at Left Foot Charley winery and Higher Grounds Coffee and Kirkbride Hall.
