East Lansing's beloved Folk Festival made a comeback this weekend after an eight-year break, with a scaled-down version designed to gauge community interest in a full return.
- The preview event featured live performers at the East Lansing Farmers Market, Albert EL Fresco and Ann Street Plaza.
- City officials created the smaller event to give residents a taste of the folk festival tradition.
- Community feedback will help determine if the full festival returns in 2026.
WATCH: East Lansing tests waters for folk festival return with preview event
I was at the East Lansing Farmers Market this weekend, where the usual produce and crafts were joined by something special - the return of a beloved city tradition after an eight-year absence.
The Folk Festival, albeit in a scaled-down version, brought live music and performances back to East Lansing, giving residents a taste of what could return in full force in the future.
Colleen Armitage, community events specialist for East Lansing, explained the motivation behind bringing back the preview event.
"That was one of the big things, was that people are just constantly like, 'I wanna see this back, I wanna see this back.' So a committee was started to see what this would look like?" Armitage said.
The committee organized the weekend preview featuring live performers to test community interest and gather input.
"The whole point is to just get community feedback as to if they would like to see the folk festival come back in 2026," Armitage said.
City officials are now actively seeking feedback from residents about the preview festival and what elements people might want to see if the Folk Festival returns in full form in 2026.
Residents interested in providing feedback can do so here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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