The year might just be getting started, and while it’s cold now, every Michigander knows festival season is just a few short months away.

Today, The ’Gander’s Britteny Dee brings us a roundup of 19 spring and summer festivals across Michigan that are worth planning your 2026 around, from music festivals to beer tasting and so much more.

Plus: If you’re giving Dry January a shot, our friends at The MichiGanja Report have a line-up of cannabis alternatives that’ll make the month a breeze (you might not even want to go back to booze).

Detroit murders fall to lowest number in decades (The Detroit News): Detroit recorded 165 homicides in 2025, the fewest in more than 60 years, marking a third straight year of decline and a nearly 20% drop from 2024. City leaders credit a holistic public safety approach, including Project Green Light, federal partnerships, and new investments in mental health and community programs.

Ann Arbor to Traverse City passenger train project moves forward (MLive): A long-discussed passenger rail line linking Ann Arbor to Traverse City is moving forward, with planners launching a public survey and advancing studies on routes, costs, and ridership. The 240-mile North+South Rail could connect 12 cities from Detroit to Petoskey, potentially carrying 1.5 million riders a year if it secures future state and federal funding.

Rx Kids expands to southwest Michigan (WMUK): New and expecting mothers in several Berrien County communities can now sign up for Rx Kids, which offers $500 a month for a baby’s first six months plus a $1,500 pregnancy payment. With the expansion, the program will serve more than 20 communities across Michigan.

Mark your calendars for these 19 can’t-miss spring and summer 2026 festivals in Michigan. (Beerfest at the Ballpark)

By Britteny Dee

After the holiday season comes our other favorite time of year—festival season. Once the weather starts to warm up and spring arrives, festivals of all sorts start taking over cities and towns throughout Michigan. From whiskey and beer to electronic music and flowers, there’s a Michigan festival that celebrates whatever you’re passionate about, like:

1. Grand Rapids Whiskey Festival

Sip whiskey and whiskey cocktails from almost 40 distilleries and beverage companies at the Grand Rapids Whiskey Festival. There will be plenty of traditional options, such as straight, double barrel, and rye whiskey, as well as some more unique offerings for adventurous drinkers, including a cookie dough whiskey and a root beer whiskey.

2. Beerfest at the Ballpark

Beer lovers won’t want to miss Beerfest at the Ballpark. Held at Lansing’s Jackson Field, this event features more than 300 different beers, ciders, hard seltzers, meads, spirits, and wines. There will also be live music, plenty of food to pair with your drinks, and a 5K—a new addition to the festival lineup for 2026.

3. Movement Music Festival

Movement Music Festival is the ultimate festival for Michiganders who love electronic music. Over the course of three days, music is performed on six stages—each with its own personality. For example, the Movement Stage is where the headliners and big acts perform, while the Underground Stage provides a warehouse party-type experience.

Festivalgoers can also indulge in a variety of food options and check out immersive art installations and large-scale murals scattered throughout the festival space.

Skipping booze this month? These Michigan-made, cannabis-infused beverages are the real workaround. (Photo illustration/The ‘Gander)

By Kyle Kaminski

Dry January in Michigan doesn’t have to be so tough. 

We’re already dealing with cold weather, gray days that blur together, and the general psychic damage of the sun going down before 5:30 p.m. Giving up booze on top of that can feel like a straight-up punishment, especially if your friends are still cracking beers and pouring wine.

But this year, cannabis-infused beverages are the real cheat code.

They’re alcohol-free, hangover-free, and after a few years of research and development, they no longer taste like someone dissolved some candy in bong water and called it innovation.

Regardless of whether you’re participating in Dry January or just sick of feeling like trash in the morning, these are the Michigan-made cannabis drinks that are actually worth buying in 2026

Earlier this week, The ‘Gander’s Kyle Kaminski gave us the details on a new petition that Michigan’s utilities definitely don’t want you knowing about.

If passed by voters, it would ban political donations from the state’s biggest utilities and expose the dark money in our elections. So, we wanted to know:

Should DTE and other big utilities be banned from funding Michigan elections?

I’ll let the comments speak for themselves, but if you’re curious about how you can sign the petition, this is where to find a location near you.

Here are highlights of what you said:

“Yes, as a company it should be banned. If individuals from the companies want to contribute on their own that would be fine. Otherwise, no!” — Louise Hufnagel

“Michiganders face some of the highest electricity rates, most frequent and longest power outages in the nation. This is largely because Michigan utilities pump money into politicians on both sides of the aisle, blocking our legislature from actually voting on bills that would force our utilities to better serve their customers. If Michiganders want to see lower electric bills and a more reliable grid, we need [to] get utility money out of our elections.” — Nicholas Jansen

“Where does the money come from if utilities are supporting candidates? If they have too much money, then they are charging us too much because that would be my money. They are using [it] to support a candidate that I may or may not agree with.“ — Colleen Shafer

“Ban the utilities from making political contributions.  That’s my pension money DTE is handing out to politicians.” — Elaine Lovitt

“Yes, DTE and Consumers Power should be banned from making political donations to candidates, committees, and PACs that are involved in elections. Utilities are obligated to act in the interests of shareholders and high paid executives first and customers after that.  Their interests are often at odds with the greater good. Utilities are “guaranteed” a 10% rate of return on investment, which is at odds with the need to quickly increase renewable energy, including community solar. We need a new model for managing utilities in Michigan. California might be a place to look for an example.” — Phillip Reid

“Public Utilities and private utilities, including DTE should be banned from funding Michigan elections or other state and federal elections. I strongly opposed the Citizen’s United Ruling by the Supreme Court. Since that terrible ruling, politicians are beholden to their donors and do not engage with their constituents like in the past. Also, incredibly large donations are influencing Michigan and Federal contracts and government spending decisions. A candidate who wins a seat and has been funded is beholden or expected to award the donors, this makes the rule by the few instead of many an unequal and unfair advantage. Business dealings should always be done without political contributions and we all need to overturn Citizen’s United as well.” — Janet Swierkosz

“They absolutely should be banned! Their contributions are the reason rate hikes get approved all the time and service is getting worse.” — Pamela Bloink

“Absolutely – all big corporations should not be allowed to contribute money to buy government officials. People should be elected based on qualifications, not on the money they can fundraise. Or be bribed with.” — Stacey Reynolds

“The only reason companies donate to political elections is to cull favor that will make the companies richer. Politicians are supposed to be making decisions that improve the lives of their constituents. They should not be swayed by donations.” — Phillip Langlois

And if you have a question you’d like me to ask our community, send it my way. I might feature it in a future newsletter.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Karel Vega with stories from Britteny Dee and Kyle Kaminski. It was edited by Kimberly Lawson.

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