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Seth Bernard, longtime organizer of the northern Michigan festival taking place on his father’s farm outside Lake City, said the intervening years gave him an opportunity to make some changes in approach to the beloved event.
The much-anticipated return of the season-ending Earthwork Harvest Gathering outside Lake City this weekend after a three-year COVID hiatus has hundreds of musicians eager to reunite with fellow players and devoted fans.
Seth Bernard, longtime organizer of the northern Michigan festival taking place on his father’s farm outside Lake City, said the intervening years gave him an opportunity to make some changes in approach to the beloved event.
The much-anticipated return of the season-ending Earthwork Harvest Gathering outside Lake City this weekend after a three-year COVID hiatus has hundreds of musicians eager to reunite with fellow players and devoted fans.
LAKE CITY — Singer-songwriter and Traverse City native Ben Traverse said it’s all about “reconnecting with the land, music and community.”
Tai Drury of the Harbor Springs funk-rock band The Marsupials calls it “one of the only events where musicians get to really hang out. It feels like a pilgrimage every year, as if we’ve survived yet another summer of pure chaos and must celebrate.”
The much-anticipated return of the season-ending Earthwork Harvest Gathering outside Lake City this weekend after a three-year COVID hiatus has hundreds of musicians eager to reunite with fellow players and devoted fans.
For Seth Bernard, longtime organizer of the northern Michigan festival taking place on his father’s farm outside Lake City, the intervening years gave him an opportunity to make some changes in approach to the beloved event.
Harvest Gathering’s revamped mission aims to create “a nice chill landing zone for folks this year,” Bernard said, adding that the more compact event serves as “a great way for Harvest Gathering to get back to its roots after a few years off.”
That means turning the festival’s fourth stage into an unamplified “acoustic jam” tent, setting up a natural playground and staffing “The People Care Tent,” which Bernard calls “a quiet space for decompression with professional support.”
“Earthwork Farm has always been a place where people have taken refuge from some of the exhausting perils and pressures of our society,” Bernard said of the event founded in 2001.
While Harvest Gathering strives to avoid what’s become an often overstimulating and overwhelming music festival experience, the 2022 celebration still boasts a jam-packed lineup.
The roster features everything from folk-hued favorites such as The Accidentals and The Crane Wives to hip-hop standouts Lady Ace Boogie, Jordan Hamilton and Nique Love Rhodes to diverse soulful acts Earth Radio, Molly and Serita’s Black Rose to rock bands and singer-songwriters.
“We feel like 85 fantastic acts on three stages is still a ton of options, and going unplugged on the north end opens up a space for people of all ages and skill levels to collaborate and pick along with some of their favorite Michigan musicians,” Bernard said.
“Folks will see a lot of positive changes on the farm. We’ve been working hard. Other new changes at Harvest include a fully scheduled drum kiva, an expanded healing and wellness space, a new space next to the kids’ tent and toddler town called ‘Baby Lane,’ more food options, water lines all over the property, and a new entrance on the north side.”
Often regarded as a “musicians’ festival” that closes out a busy summer season of touring, the return of Harvest Gathering not surprisingly has been welcomed with open arms by performers from across the state.
Grand Rapids’ Lady Ace Boogie relishes the “genuine environment” of unmatched “love and kindness” that permeates an Earthwork Farm filled with “amazing humans and artists.”
Dan Rickabus, drummer for Michigan folk-rock band The Crane Wives, put it this way: “What I’m most looking forward to at Earthwork Harvest Gathering is this big-hearted community reuniting, gathering together again to co-create the unique magic of Harvest, which is not only celebratory and exuberant, but deeply healing and nurturing as well,”
All of that reflects what Bernard has long intended for the annual celebration.
“It’s always been a family reunion for Michigan musicians, and one of our goals is to continue to cultivate a culture of cooperation and collaboration here in the Great Lakes Basin,” he said.
Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
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