Though the month of May might look devoid of fun things to do around East Lansing since the East Lansing Art Festival finished up last weekend, the rest of the summer is a packed calendar of events, according to the City of East Lansing.
Beginning on June 5, the East Lansing Farmer’s Market will be open for business for students and community members interested in buying local produce and other products. The market will be open every Sunday until Oct. 30 and will be located at Valley Court Park. According to the City of East Lansing, more than 1,000 people attend the market each week and only home-grown or self-produced products are allowed to be sold.
Also beginning in June is East Lansing’s popular Summer Concert Series, a free series of events located in Ann Street Plaza. This event runs from June 24 until Aug. 6 throughout the course of six weeks on Friday nights at 7 p.m. and Saturday nights at 7 p.m. The music festival also helps drive business to downtown restaurants and bars, the website read, and the opening show will be performed by Starfarm, an 80s band based in East Lansing.
On the concert series’ off week, Ann Street Plaza will be hosting the Summer Solstice Jazz Festival on June 17 and 18.
The free festival will include local, regional and national jazz musicians and will carry on in the event of rain. A lineup was announced in early 2016 and this will be the festival’s 20th year.
Beginning July 7 and 9:30 p.m., Valley Court Park will be hosting the Moonlight Film Festival. Food will be provided and admission is free. The movies to be shown are geared toward children and most have a PG rating, although the opening movie will be School of Rock, a PG-13 film. A pre-show will occur before each movie, like a community talent show on July 7 and an East Lansing Police Department Unit Demonstration on July 14.
What might be the most notable summer event is the Common Ground Music Festival from July 5 to July 10 where Awolnation and Dierks Bently will be among the performers.
One of the last events scheduled for the summer is the three day Great Lakes Folk Festival, an event “produced by the MSU Museum’s Michigan Traditional Arts Program, (that) is a celebration of culture, tradition and community.” The lineup was just recently announced and is sponsored by the MSU Museum.
The festival will run from Aug. 12 to 14.