It was the time of Winterfest, mid-February, in the village of Empire, when temperatures dipped well below the freezing mark. Snow had been shoveled to clear an area for ice-skating on South Bar Lake. Earlier in the day a fire truck had been there to spray a fine mist of water making a smooth surface.
The Dunegrass Festival will change its name to “Sleepy Bear Music Festival”, organizer Ryan Lake told the Glen Arbor Sun. The popular northern Michigan summer music festival will roll out the carpet again August 10-12, 2012, on the Harm family’s property near Lake Ann.
At the close of its second decade, the Dunegrass Music Festival now has a new home. The popular northern Michigan folk and bluegrass festival is leaving Leelanau County, where it was born to the late Mike Vanderberg in Empire in 1993 and exploded last decade to feature nationally known acts.