A popular music festival could return to downtown East Lansing as soon as next year.
The Great Lakes Folk Festival was a multi-day celebration of music, dancing and Michigan folk life put on by the Michigan State Museum that began in 2002. Before that, the National Folk Festival was hosted by the city in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
The festival was cancelled indefinitely in 2017.
Now, a committee has been formed to bring the festival back.
East Lansing City Councilmember Mark Meadows says the committee has met several times to discuss the logistics of the event.
He says the support from the community has been astonishing.
“There was a surprising number of people from the general public who showed up at the first meeting of the Folk Festival Committee to voice their support for starting it up again.”
The committee plans to select a new name for the downtown festival.
Meadows says the festival will have a positive impact on local businesses.
“Anytime you've got foot traffic in the downtown, it's good for the downtown businesses, right? So, festivals and other events in the downtown are designed to support our businesses, our brick and mortar businesses.”
The goal is to get the festival going again by August of next year or in 2026 at the latest