The 43rd East Lansing Art Festival marks Wanda Degen's 20th year as the event's performance coordinator, and even though she's been booking performers for two decades, attendees shouldn't expect their musical experiences to be echoes of past festivals.
"Having done it for 20 years, I can draw from a lot of previous performers," Degen said. "There's a lot of people who have just done so well, some festivals it's like, 'Man, this was so great. We could do this exact thing next year,' but we never do that."
Degen said she is committed to variety in her choice of acts for the festival. To that effect, this year's lineup includes 20 musical performances on two stages throughout the festival.
The performances will feature musicians working in a wide range of styles, from traditional Celtic and Scottish to a cappella and Latin jazz.
"We try to make it a mix of styles, and we try to make it styles that work well for the artists," Degen said. "Some of the artists don't want to be near the music, and some of them love it, so we try to make it a variety too, for the artists, so they're not hearing the same thing."
Having played the festival multiple times, troubadour Neil Woodward is a testament to that variety — this year, Woodward will be performing alongside step dancer Sheila Graziano as Matter and Ghost. In his long-standing relationship with the festival, Woodward has noticed a cohesion between the musical acts and the pieces on display.
"It fits in well with the visual arts," he said.
Lansing-based roots band Steppin' In It also returns to the art festival stage this year. Bassist Dominic Suchyta commented on how the festival atmosphere differs from playing local venues like The Green Door or the Creole Gallery.
"It's different in that people are just walking around, so they give you a nice long set; you know, you'll play for an hour," Suchyta said. "If somebody's walking by and sees something they like, you know, you have a chance to gather a crowd."
When the crowds do gather, not even the festival's infamous fickle weather can disperse them. Degen said the fans watching The Chenille Sisters at last year's festival looked like a "sea of umbrellas."
The art festival provides the opportunity for diverse crowds as well.
"A lot of people get to see us perform who don't necessarily (get to) all the time, especially our families, younger people, children and stuff like that," said Root Doctor's Freddie Cunningham, who will be playing the festival's main stage on Saturday. "Because, let's face it, so many times we're in a bar, and they can't come."
Live music is not a feature common to all art festivals. Festival coordinator Sharon Radtke said the music both enhances the festival and sets it apart from similar events.
"My daughter lives in Vermont, and we've gone to the (festival) in Stowe, which is like this really pristine kind of festival, but there was no music," she said. She paused to laugh when she said the Stowe festival seemed "kind of quiet."
To Suchyta, the East Lansing Art Festival and its musical performances represent an experience that is all-too-rare in the city.
"East Lansing, for being a college town, really doesn't do that many cool events, so it's kind of the last, really cool, free outdoor street event in East Lansing," he said.
Erik Adams can be reached at adamser9@msu.edu.
