Collin Wheeler
ENG 316
Prof Hamilton
Hiawatha Music Festival
Every July hundreds of Folk Music enthusiasts gather in the heart of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to play, listen, and live nothing but music for one weekend. Last Thursday I attended the Hiawatha Music Festival exhibit at the Beaumier Heritage Museum. I had always known that the music festival was a very important activity to attend during a Marquette summer, never knew the whole history behind it.
The music festival started in 1979 in Champion, Michigan as a gathering for folk music enthusiasts. By 1984 the event had moved to Marquette’s Tourist Park. The Hiawatha Music Festival is located in Tourist Park; a very beautiful forested area in Marquette. It is a great location for the festival and more than accommodates all campers to bathrooms with showers, a baseball field for activities, and a lake suitable for swimming and canoeing. The one thousand-site campground sells out to first time goers, veterans, and the few that have been at every festival since its conception in 1979. The music festival requires a year-round effort of many volunteers to keep it going. The Hiawatha Festival is conducted by the Hiawatha Music Non Profit Corporation, a 600-member, 501(c)3 non-profit commonly known as the Hiawatha Music Co-op.
This group includes several of the original founders such as the recent long-term president Susan Bertram.
Camping in the park is a very great experience during the festival. There are quiet sections for families, a section for youth to socialize and camp, and the newly formed 'A' section where the musicians normally stay. After midnight when the main stage has seen its last act, the musicians and bands will mix and congregate to play music all throughout the night. This is a great way for amateurs to join in and show what they've got. The fire pits are often the center of these gatherings and roar into the sunlit morning hours. The park is patrolled by security throughout the duration of the festival to ensure everyone has his or her fun in a safe manor.
The Hiawatha Music Festival also helps stimulate the local economy. While tourists are visiting the areas they eat at local restaurants, shop small business’s, and drink at the local breweries most importantly. Each year's Festival includes a variety of licensed, contracted food concessionaires, as well as a juried arts and crafts show coordinated by Marquette's Oasis Gallery in conjunction with the Festival. All of the food available for purchase inside the festival comes from local restaurants and sources. Ticket prices for adults are $65.00 for adults, $55.00 for teens and seniors, and only $5 for children under 12. A camping pass will set you back $15.00 per tent.
The three-day music festival attracts a very wide audience of people of all ages and interests, all brought together over the love of folk music. On the final day of the festival there is a children’s music performance. Over the course of the festival the children attend a music camp in which they get to make their own instruments and play them on the main stage as the closing act of the festival.
The Hiawatha Music Festival is often regarded as the can’t miss event of the summer here in Marquette and continues to be an ongoing Yooper tradition.
ENG 316
Prof Hamilton
Hiawatha Music Festival
Every July hundreds of Folk Music enthusiasts gather in the heart of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to play, listen, and live nothing but music for one weekend. Last Thursday I attended the Hiawatha Music Festival exhibit at the Beaumier Heritage Museum. I had always known that the music festival was a very important activity to attend during a Marquette summer, never knew the whole history behind it.
The music festival started in 1979 in Champion, Michigan as a gathering for folk music enthusiasts. By 1984 the event had moved to Marquette’s Tourist Park. The Hiawatha Music Festival is located in Tourist Park; a very beautiful forested area in Marquette. It is a great location for the festival and more than accommodates all campers to bathrooms with showers, a baseball field for activities, and a lake suitable for swimming and canoeing. The one thousand-site campground sells out to first time goers, veterans, and the few that have been at every festival since its conception in 1979. The music festival requires a year-round effort of many volunteers to keep it going. The Hiawatha Festival is conducted by the Hiawatha Music Non Profit Corporation, a 600-member, 501(c)3 non-profit commonly known as the Hiawatha Music Co-op.
This group includes several of the original founders such as the recent long-term president Susan Bertram.
Camping in the park is a very great experience during the festival. There are quiet sections for families, a section for youth to socialize and camp, and the newly formed 'A' section where the musicians normally stay. After midnight when the main stage has seen its last act, the musicians and bands will mix and congregate to play music all throughout the night. This is a great way for amateurs to join in and show what they've got. The fire pits are often the center of these gatherings and roar into the sunlit morning hours. The park is patrolled by security throughout the duration of the festival to ensure everyone has his or her fun in a safe manor.
The Hiawatha Music Festival also helps stimulate the local economy. While tourists are visiting the areas they eat at local restaurants, shop small business’s, and drink at the local breweries most importantly. Each year's Festival includes a variety of licensed, contracted food concessionaires, as well as a juried arts and crafts show coordinated by Marquette's Oasis Gallery in conjunction with the Festival. All of the food available for purchase inside the festival comes from local restaurants and sources. Ticket prices for adults are $65.00 for adults, $55.00 for teens and seniors, and only $5 for children under 12. A camping pass will set you back $15.00 per tent.
The three-day music festival attracts a very wide audience of people of all ages and interests, all brought together over the love of folk music. On the final day of the festival there is a children’s music performance. Over the course of the festival the children attend a music camp in which they get to make their own instruments and play them on the main stage as the closing act of the festival.
The Hiawatha Music Festival is often regarded as the can’t miss event of the summer here in Marquette and continues to be an ongoing Yooper tradition.