By Joseph Beyer
Ah, it’s concert season. You could find bliss in a bluegrass jam band tucked away in a local farm field. Or romance in the sounds of Rachmaninoff floating up among the Victorian cottages of Bay View. Wherever you go, there’s music to be heard in the most enchanted up north venues. Here are the places and players you absolutely must experience this summer.
THE ALLUVION
Traverse City | Year-Round
Vibe: Intimate, Micropolitan, New | thealluvion.org
Launched as an accessible and acoustically minded performing arts space in late 2023, The Alluvion now features a distinct marquee downtown, along with a loyal following of audiences and artists alike. What else would you expect from a venue that calls Commongrounds home (a mixed-use, community-owned building with apartments, offices, rotating art exhibits, common work and food and drink tenants all together)?
The Alluvion is at the heart of the building and can accommodate up to 180 lucky guests on any night of the week for rotations of world-class jazz, visiting modern rockers and regional favorites like Andrew Dost’s Metal Bubble Trio. The stage lights are Instagram moody, and the baby grand piano was donated by partner Jeff Haas, who helped design the space.
Grab a pre-show cocktail at NoBo downstairs with one of the best views in town of the Boardman River. When it’s showtime, walk up the modern open staircase to the second floor where most events let you grab one last beverage at the mini bar before you head in to enjoy.
Upcoming Shows
The Alluvion has a full summer lineup, from Charlie Millard Band to Trillium Groove and The Pickle Mafia. Find tickets and more information on select shows at mynorthtickets.com.
BLISSFEST FOLK & ROOTS FESTIVAL
Somewhere north of Harbor Springs | July 11–13, 2025
Vibe: Outdoorsy, Communal, Festive | blissfest.org
With tones of the iconic Woodstock and taking place on a private farm we can’t even disclose, Blissfest is an annual celebration of folk, roots and world music with multiple outdoor stages and a diverse musical lineup. Legend has it the fest started in 1981 with just one day of performances under a maple tree, but that tree now attracts fans from around the country and has planted itself as an institution of music love right here in our backyard.
Blissfest is welcoming headliners Trevor Hall, Elephant Revival, Ozomatli and Lindsay Lou to its 43rd annual edition this summer. You’ll need a wristband pass to attend all three days of shows, workshops and events. Spots for camping and bringing your tow-behind toys are all offered on a first-come basis. Blissfest is also a family affair where supervised kids are allowed, making it an intergenerational memory waiting to happen.
INTERLOCHEN ARTS FESTIVAL
Interlochen | June 13–Aug. 18, 2025
Vibe: Special, Outdoorsyish, Sometimes Epic | interlochen.org
Taking place, as it does, in the indoor/outdoor architectural wonder that is Kresge Auditorium, the top annual music and performing arts festival in the region has been packing in audiences since it opened in 1948. Maybe that’s why you can often feel like you’re stepping back in time— to when things were slower, and you could hold all 3,917 guests in full rapture through the power of music. Now, it’s the place to see some of the biggest guest artists and acts around, and to be seen yourself when you run into old friends walking onto campus or tailgating nearby.
Stroll the south lawn for the best pre-show lake views and enjoy regional beers and wines before the show or at intermission. We really shouldn’t tell you this, but if you want to get even closer to the action, check out the sidelines on the stage right side where you can dance with freedom, beat the rush to the portable restrooms and generally feel very VIP with other die-hard fans … before one last look at that sunset.
LAKE ANN BREWING CO.
Lake Ann | June–August 2025
Vibe: Festive, Family-Friendly, Downright Fun | lakeannbrewing.com
The 1949 building has been a snack shack, sold fishing supplies, operated as a diner café, and finally, in 2014, local Matt Therrien took his homebrew skills and passion for craft beer and gave the place a new lease on life. Since then, it’s grown to include an outdoor patio with live music on a stage he helped build with his own two hands. It’s all a part of the Lake Ann Brewing ethos: where a cold beer and gifted visiting artists like Drew Hale, trio 1000 Watt Prophets and The Whiskey Charmers all feel right at home.
Guests love grabbing a beer and settling at one of the picnic tables; seasonal food trucks and pizza legend Stone Oven next door make it easy to grab food for the show, and the resulting backyard barbecue atmosphere is so comforting and lively there’s a darn good chance you’ll make new friends, too. During peak summer, you can take your pick from seven acts a week that create the brewery’s unique background soundtrack (and more than 10 taps to harmonize with).
IRON FISH DISTILLERY
Thompsonville |Late May to Secret Summer, 2025
Vibe: Hidden, Outdoorsy, Laidback |ironfishdistillery.com
The first time you venture down the mysterious dirt road to find Michigan’s first farm-to-bottle distillery, you might think you’ve gone the wrong way. It’s just part of the genuine charm of getting there, and discovering this 120-acre experience dedicated to the kind of sustainable, artisanal community that comes poured into classics like Old Fashioneds, martinis and Moscow mules.
On most weekends at the renovated barn, you’ll hear live music from regional favorites or traveling musicians who might be camping on the grounds between stops on their tour. With your feet kicked back and a memorable cocktail in hand, you’ll watch performances against the backgrounds of the fields where your drink was grown and listen to music with the sounds of horseshoes in the distance.
MUSIC IN THE PARK
Mackinac Island | June 26–Aug. 28, 2025
Vibe: Something for Everyone, Dog-Friendly, Easygoing | mackinacartscouncil.org
With live performances carried on the winds of the Straits of Mackinac, and free admission for locals and visiting tourists alike, Music in the Park provides a Midwest lineup of country, rock, folk, blues or any beats that will get people moving together on the lawn of Marquette Park, at the foot of historic Fort Mackinac.
Seating is the best kind: first-come, first-served when you find the perfect stretch of grass, or a spot for your picnic blanket, or your pop-up lawn chair with that sidecar beverage holder you like. Everything is laidback and provokes memories of a long tradition of music and performances on this special spot of land.
Concerts are free every Thursday evening with standouts like Nathan Graham’s soul blues mashup, the songsters Ben Daniels Band (yes! related to musician, actor and dad, Jeff), and bluegrass act Full Cord in this summer’s crew, among others. Mackinac Arts Council Director Laura Raisch says, “We get people fired up, and when four to five hundred people are fired up here, it’s a great time.”
BAROQUE ON BEAVER
Beaver Island | July 24–Aug. 2, 2025
Vibe: Adventurous, Outdoorsy, Classic | baroqueonbeaver.org
Baroque on Beaver Executive Director Matthew Thomas says the lecture hall at Central Michigan University’s field station (built in 1959 and 32 miles out on the water of the Big Lake) has “the best acoustics on the island.” It’s one of several venues where, for a short invasion each summer, you can experience world-class classical and classically inspired music in formal and informal settings, under the dark-sky sanctuary that is Beaver Island.
A trip to the multi-day music festival will require passage by air or a two-hour ferry trip departing from Charlevoix, but your reward is intimate access to brass quintets playing popular favorites, woodwinds on the lawn, 20-voice choral groups like Vox GR or celebrated musicians like pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, who, after much international acclaim, will be returning this year for both a recital and solo performance with orchestra.
With a rich and unexpected history, Beaver Island seems the natural choice for this unlikely gathering of musicians and music lovers, who have been making the trek here since 2002.
CEDAR POLKA FEST
Cedar | Aug. 21–24, 2025
Vibe: Nostalgic, Dance-Inducing, Spoko | cedarpolkafest.org
We don’t know if the “Big Tent” in Cedar (which houses the multi-day celebration of all-things-polka) has been sitting there since the founding of the event in 1975, but it feels so frozen in time that it could be. That’s where, just off County Road 651, you’ll find the open parking lots filling up all night as the vibrant and contagious pulse of polka echoes from this sanctuary for Polish music, food, beer and an occasional accordion cover of a Guns N’ Roses song.
Vagabond performers make up the multiple stage lineups in Bohemian polka style as visitors attempt to carry large beers and sausages across the crowded space, while feeling the urge to do a little dance as they move through the crowd.
If it’s your first time to a polka fest, Midwest legends like the Alex Meixner Band and Bavarski will make it familiar and welcoming. And the tasty treats and carnival atmosphere of people in costumes and flags everywhere makes you feel like you could actually—just for a moment—be in a dream you don’t want to wake from.
ALL CALL MUSIC FESTIVAL
Traverse City | Aug. 9, 2025
Vibe: Hip, Diverse, Unexpected | allcallmusicfestival.com
When Gary Jonas and wife, Allison, couldn’t find some of the cutting-edge pop, hip-hop, soul and diversity of music they craved after years of living in Brooklyn, they decided to create a pop-up music festival of their own right here—and they planted it at their own bar and patio: The Little Fleet. That was three years ago. Now, the All Call Music Festival is heading into its fourth iteration of being the go-to experience for new urban and internationally inspired artists who don’t often play the region.
It’s part of the vision that extends The Little Fleet’s fame as a gathering spot with a refreshing summer lineup of cocktails, beers and wines inside the cozy bar or outside on the buzzy patio. And for one long day of musical lineups, the corner of Wellington and Front streets will close down for stages and tents and a dizzying array of sonic variations ranging from Dos Santos, Kairos Creature Club and “Tom O’Brien’s New Band” to a yet unnamed combination of regional creatives all playing at this year’s festival, among some other surprises. For the musically curious, it’s not to be missed.
SUMMER SOUNDS AT MICHIGAN LEGACY ART PARK
Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa, Thompsonville | July 10–31, 2025
Vibe: Outdoorsy, Artsy, Magical |michlegacyartpark.org
Tucked inside 31 acres preserved in the middle of Crystal Mountain Resort in Benzie County is an unlikely outdoor art park, home to 50 sculptures and a beautiful amphitheater. And most summers since 1996, the park has lit up for live music that has ranged from rock to opera. Donations are suggested and benefit the nonprofit which hosts the concerts and stewards the sculpture park that celebrates Michigan’s art, history and place in the world.
On Thursday nights, bring your own food and drink, or grab some from the resort’s market nearby, and don’t forget a lawn chair, blanket and dessert for the encores. Kids can explore the park nearby or join in the spontaneous dance sessions that sometimes break out in front of the stage. With treetops above you, Summer Sounds is one of the stops you won’t regret making. It’s a short but beautiful walk from the parking lot to the stage, but the park offers golf cart rides for those with accessibility needs, thanks to the dedicated volunteers who make it all happen.
Post Script Pro Tips: Your expert music-going summer extravaganza toolkit should include clear purses or fanny packs for entry (now required at some places like Interlochen Center for the Arts), sunscreen, bug spray, water bottles, snacks, a blanket or sweatshirt for the walk back to the car, and an adventurous ear for the power of music to refill our souls and bring us together.
Joseph Beyer is a writer and producer living on Old Mission Peninsula after positions at Sundance Institute, Redford Center, Traverse City Film Festival and Michigan Legacy Art Park.