 |
| Grammy-winning band Blues Traveler will kick off the 2012 Traverse City Winter Microbrew & Music Festival with a Feb. 10 performance at the city's historic opera house. |
The festival, billed as a “winter wonderland of craft beer, live music and local food,” will be held Feb. 11, featuring beverages from over 50 microbreweries, meaderies, cideries and wineries, a “silent disco,” and nearly a dozen live bands. (In a silent disco, dancers are issued wireless headphones through which music is broadcast via an FM transmitter – nobody else has to listen.)
The various events will be held in a small city of heated tents: three main heated music and microbrewery tents, a silent disco tent with a full roster of DJs, a snow fort-building competition among local businesses -- and for the first time, a polka-themed tent hosted by local comedian Marti Johnson.
Performing for the event will be several acclaimed musical and entertainment acts including Funktion, beatbox champion Heatbox, The Crane Wives, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s, Dragon Wagon, Rootstand, Laith Al-Saadi, DJ DomiNate, DJ Wulf Pak (and his popular laser show), the non-profit Grand Traverse Pipes & Drums and local fire dancers.
The polka tent, a promotional partnership with the Cedar Polka Fest held nearby during the first week in July, will feature popular polka bands (including Squeezebox and The Kielbasa Kings) with dancing, authentic food and special activities celebrating polka culture.
Already well-known as a food and wine destination, Traverse City is also making fans in the burgeoning microbrew community; Draft magazine just named it one of Americas’ three newest Emerging Beer Towns (along with St. Louis and Oklahoma City).The Grand Traverse Commons lawn has long been the home of Traverse City’s Summer Microbrew & Music Festival, which is held there each August, but the winter event has been more nomadic – the first one was held on a local golf course, and last year’s was in downtown Traverse City.
Festival promoter Sam Porter said the move to the Commons made good sense, but he regretted that downtown businesses won’t reap as much of an economic benefit from this year’s festival. To take some of the sting out of the move, his company -- Porterhouse Productions -- will host a pre-festival concert Friday night in Traverse City’s historic downtown opera house, featuring Grammy-winning band Blues Traveler.
Renowned for their high-energy live shows, Blues Traveler is behind such massive pop hits as “Run-Around,” “Hook” and “You, Me and Everything.” Their album “Four” reached triple-platinum status, and “Run-Around” was the longest-charting single in Billboard history. The Feb. 10 concert marks the band’s second return to Traverse City after their sold-out appearance at Porterhouse’s Paella in the Park festival in 2010.
“Our hope is that we’ll have a great sold-out show with Blues Traveler the night before the festival, with concertgoers eating, drinking and shopping downtown before and after the concert,” said Porter. His company is also planning several “after-parties” on Friday and Saturday nights at downtown establishments (including Union Street Station and the Loading Dock) to further connect festival attendees with the downtown district.
The festival will offer free shuttle service to attendees between the Commons, downtown, the Old Town parking deck, and participating hotels.
General admission tickets for the Traverse City Winter Microbrew & Music Festival on February 11 are $30 in advance or $35 at the door and include all festival entertainment, musical acts, shuttle service and five (5) 7-oz pours. Additional pours will be available for purchase on-site for $1 each. Tickets can be purchased online at www.porterhouseproductions.com or at Oryana, Blue Tractor and Left Foot Charley in Traverse City.
Attendees are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance, as the festival has sold out in past years. Ticket buyers must be at least 21 years old. Attendees are encouraged to carpool, use the shuttle service or walk, sled or snowshoe to the event. Festival proceeds will benefit the non-profit Bay Area Recycling for Charities.
Reserved seating tickets for the Blues Traveler concert at the City Opera House on February 10 range from $29-$45 and go on sale on Monday, January 16. Tickets can be purchased at the City Opera House box office, by phone at 231-941-8082 or online at www.cityoperahouse.org.
For information about other goings-on in Traverse City, and for assistance with lodging and dining options, contact the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-TRAVERSE or on line at www.traversecity.com
No comments
Post a Comment