HOUGHTON, Mich. (WJMN) – A community festival celebrating local food, music, and the outdoors is coming to Houghton during the last weekend in May.

The Houghton from the Ground Festival will take place on the Houghton Pier from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 27. The event will include a farmers market, live music, bikes, farm animals and food trucks along the waterfront.

Musical performers were chosen to feature a variety of styles celebrating local music.

“Since this festival is a celebration of all things of the Keweenaw,” said Hannah Rundman, Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts audience manager. “We wanted to bring forward music inherently connected to this place through the people who created it.”

Food trucks at the event include The Forge, 7 Wonders Chuckwagon and the Matador from Calumet.

The following artists will perform during the festival. A short description is included from event organizers:

  • Adam Meckler and Jana Nyberg (12:00-1:15 p.m.): Meckler and Nyberg’s music is geared toward kids and families to start the festival from incredible local jazz musicians with specialties in vocals (Nyberg) and trumpet (Meckler). Both have released albums, and Meckler is Michigan Tech’s Director of Jazz Studies.
  • Kevin Blackstone (1:30-2:50 p.m.): Influenced by traditional music, Blackstone plays acoustic guitar and writes songs both personally and locally inspired.
  • Hannah Rundman, Bruce Rundman and Bling Crosby (3:10-4:25 p.m.): Bling Crosby features JD Uponen and Jason Dart with songwriting and playing by Hannah and Bruce Rundman. Their original songs are inspired by an eclectic mix of primarily rock and Americana influences, including John Mellencamp, Death Cab for Cutie, Steve Earle, Jason Isbell and many others.
  • Ani & Kora (4:45-6:00 p.m.): Ani and Kora are two singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists from Houghton, Michigan. The duo says its music is “old on soul and sharp as a tack” and is “inspired by the Keweenaw Peninsula, by the folk and Americana music we’ve grown up immersed in, with a pinch of hot club swing and riot grrrl thrown in for good measure.”

“I’m excited to be a part of this event as a musician,” Rundman said. “I’m in the band Bling Crosby with my dad and two friends, JD Uponen (lead guitar, keys and vocals) and Jason Dart (drums). We have a really fun time making music together. We’ve had a positive response from the community playing out over the last year or so, mostly playing covers with a handful of our original songs thrown in. I’m really looking forward to playing this show of all originals, especially since my own songs have been taken to the next level by the musicianship of my bandmates.”