Michigan Irish Music Festival to take place virtually – mlive.com

Michigan Irish Music Festival to take place virtually  mlive.com

MUSKEGON, MI – Like so many summer events, the Michigan Irish Music Festival, typically held at Heritage Landing in downtown Muskegon, was canceled because of coronavirus.

But next week, instead of heading down to the waterfront, Irish music enthusiasts can log onto their computers for a virtual event.

“Keeping Irish in Your Heart…Six Feet Apart” is the theme of the event, which will coincide with what would have been the 2020 festival, from Thursday, Sept. 17 through Sunday, Sept. 20.

RELATED: Michigan Irish Music Festival 2020 canceled due to coronavirus crisis

It will feature music, streamed through the organization’s Facebook page, by local, national, and international musicians. There will also be a songwriting circle and a kid-friendly cooking presentation.

The festival’s organizers will also be selling a unique t-shirt to commemorate this year’s unique circumstances: a bright green shirt reading, “Irish There Was a Festival!”

The Michigan Irish Music Festival typically attracts thousands of people to the edge of Muskegon Lake, and caps off the region’s summer season, which ordinarily would see concerts, street fairs, and festivals every weekend. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all of those events were canceled, including the Lakeshore Art Festival, Electric Forest music festival, Unity Christian Music Festival, and Rebel Road Motorcycle Rally.

The new, virtual event will take place six months after the festival’s organizers also had to cancel their St. Patrick’s Day events, just after the virus was deemed an emergency in the state of Michigan.

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