Ready to Rock Harbor Springs’ Blissfest (blissfully) returns
By Ross Boissoneau Like virtually all music festivals and events, Blissfest—the iconic roots-and-more music festival in Harbor Springs—went dark in 2020. And as with many others, it followed suit in 2021. Now, as we move into a not-quite-post-COVID world, the festival is back, and Executive Director Cindy McSurely says they will be celebrating 40 years of presenting a huge variety of music. Who’s playing? “It’s folk and roots music. That’s a huge umbrella,” says McSurely, noting the three-day event encompasses everything from bluegrass, blues, and Zydeco to country, Celtic, jazz, Latin, and world music. Headlining the weekend will be threetime Grammy Award-winning singersongwriter Shawn Colvin and bluegrass/ rock/Cajun band Leftover Salmon. Other acts will include Nicki Bluhm, Laith AlSaadi, Miko Marks, Patty Larkin, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, Parsonsfield, Jackie Venson, and many more. Among the Michigan artists scheduled to appear are the Accidentals, May Erlewine, The Go Rounds, Seth Bernard, The Real Ingredients, Mark Lavengood, and Jordan Hamilton. The roster of artists this year reflects those previously booked, as well as new additions to round things out. “We did our best to re-book the original 2020 lineup and also bring an exciting and jam-packed festival for everyone this year with new acts in the mix from the Michigan and national
scenes,” says Caroline Barlow, talent buyer for the festival. Barlow adds that the festival is unique, as are the people that come together every year to create their own bliss. “The programming has its own vibe, and it is unlike any other festival lineup out there,” she says. “It’s one of those things that you might have to experience to know, but Blissfest has its own culture that stands out from the crowd. It is welcoming, multi-generational, fun-loving, colorful, and seems to have endless pockets of things to experience.” That’s all to say, Blissfest is more than just a big party with music. There’s a children’s tent with programming for the younger set, a huge variety of food vendors, an arts and crafts fair, and healing arts all there to enhance the experience of the live music and festive spirit. Deep Roots While 2022 is a big year for the festival in many ways, the nonprofit educational and performing arts organization had humble beginnings back in 1981. A small arts club called the Spectrum Center above the original location of Grain Train in Petoskey was a hub for local artists, folk musicians, dancers, and movie buffs to gather. The center and the nearby alternative Bliss School decided to join forces to host a concert as a fundraiser for the school. That first Blissfest was held for one day under a maple tree in a potato farmer’s fallow field in Bliss Township in the summer of
22 • may 09, 2022 • Northern Express Weekly
1981. (What else could it be called other than Blissfest?) Successive festivals were held at whichever of the farmer’s fields were available before finding a permanent home at the Blissfest Festival Farm outside Harbor Springs. Blissfest is now a licensed campground, and the North Country Scenic Trail is routed through the farm. “We are open three seasons [with] 35 rustic campsites,” McSurely notes. This will be its first full campground season. Just as they did in the early days, many of the attendees camp on-site, which Holly
Keller-Thompson, bookkeeper for the organization, says reflects the communal aspects of such gatherings. She says the vibe is a throwback to the peace and love culture of the late ’60s and early ’70s. “Blissfest is cool because it embraces that hippie culture that we loved from the ’70s, when peace and love was the anthem that seemed to echo through the generation,” Keller-Thompson explains. “There seems to be something in the air that fills people with that kind of joy and nostalgia that can
