Festival-goers enjoy music at a previous Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival, which is making its return this July after COVID-19 caused the festival to be put on hold in 2020 and 2021. (Journal file photo)

MARQUETTE — The Hiawatha Traditional Music festival is making its return this year after COVID-19 forced the festival’s cancelation in 2020 and 2021.

Hiawatha will be taking place at the Tourist Park Campground in Marquette the weekend of July 22-24 and will feature a wide variety of local, regional, national and international musicians including Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Dom Flemons. Other artists include Grammy nominated band The Revelers, singer-songwriter Chicago Farmer and many, many more.

The festival prides itself on being family friendly and the 2022 edition will be no different, with plenty of music and activities being geared towards teens. The Teen Scene features music from The Knockabouts, The Cotton Pickin’ Kids during the “teens only” dance. Younger kids won’t be left out either, as there will be a “tween tent” with music and activities for kids aged 9-12 and a children’s area with child-friendly activities and crafts.

The music won’t be confined to the stages either, with several workshops and informal jam sessions taking place throughout the weekend. Festival attendees are encouraged to bring their instruments and singing voices with them to join in with the musicians during the jam sessions. There will also be a children’s parade featuring Frank Youngman and children’s homemade instruments to get the final evening of music underway on Sunday.

There will also be a wide variety of food vendors who will be offering breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as beverages and other snacks. An art show, Artists in the Round, will be taking place Saturday and Sunday with the Young Artists Corner taking place Saturday to showcase the work of younger artists.

Campgrounds will open at 1 p.m. on Friday. On-site parking passes will be available for purchase. Those with handicap tags, as well as off-site parkers will have the option of a free shuttle from the Kauffman Sports Complex to the festival grounds. While no pets are allowed, those with ADA trained service animals will be welcome.

Some changes to the 2022 edition of the festival have been announced as well. Previous festivals required tickets but this year wristbands will be required in an attempt to reduce the need to have attendees go to the gate ticket tent to exchange their tickets for wristbands. Also, the Jacobetti Center will no longer be the location of the ticket tent and the off-site parking. This year the Kauffman Sports Complex, located just north of the Jacobetti Center on County Road 550 will serve as the location.

Festival wristbands, camping tags and parking passes will be sold at the Hiawatha Co-op ticket office located at the Village Shopping Center at 1015 North Third Street in Marquette. They are also available online at www.hiawathamusic.org, the Hiawatha Co-op Facebook page or by phone at 906-226-8575 starting May 16.

Randy Crouch can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. His email address is rcrouch@miningjournal .net.