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Special or Annual Events

  • Starting in 2002, the Great Lakes Folk Festival is held in East Lansing. The festival showcases not only the traditional cultural treasures of the nation's Upper Midwest but also a sampling of the best of traditional artists from around the country and the world. The festival encourages cross-cultural understanding of our diverse society through the presentation of musicians, dancers, cooks, storytellers, and craftspeople whose traditions are rooted in their communities.

    The festival, held the second weekend of August, showcases more than 100 musicians or dancers in groups who perform at least twice and sometimes as many as four times over the weekend, from blues to bluegrass, Cajun, Celtic, polka, salsa and more. Both entertaining and educational, the festival is a special fusion of arts fair, music festival, county fair, hands-on activity workshops, living musuem exhibitions, and celebration of multi-ethnic heritage. Featured at the festival are four performance stages (including a 2,400 sq. ft. dance floor), traditional food vendors, a foodways demonstration stage, a children's hands-on activity area, a traditional games area, crafts demonstrations, and crafts marketplace.

    MSU's WKAR-TV also televised much of the event, airing feature length programs, extended interview and call-in programming with festival organizers and live, event day broadcasts and news reports.

    The Great Lakes Folk Festival is a collaborative effort by the MSU Museum, the City of East Lansing, and the National Council for the Traditional Arts. For more about the festival, call the MSU Museum at (517) 355-2370 .

  • Each year, East Lansing Recreation and Arts sponsors a Daddy/Daughter Dance, a Mother/Son Dance, and a Halloween Haunted School House. They are assisted in organizing these events by students enrolled in the MSU Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Resources. Classes of 30-50 students, divided into small groups, work with the ELRA staff for multiple weeks soliciting donations of food and/or prizes, securing and decorating the facility, overseeing the event, cleaning up after the event, and providing evaluation and feedback to the ELRA staff after the event. ELRA feels that without the assistance of these students, these special events would either not exist or would be so scaled down as to be anti-climatic for the community. At the same time, the students receive valuable experience in their chosen field.

    Student volunteers from many educational departments, but especially the MSU Art Department help with the office work and promotional activities for special events such as the East Lansing Arts Festival held every spring. The ELRA works closely with the MSU Art Department , Theatre Department, and MSU Museum to heighten awareness and increase participation in the Great Lakes Folk Festival. ELRA sponsors craft and dance workshops prior to the GLFF to provide a more hands-on experience for festival goers.

  • Safe Halloween is an annual event sponsored and funded by the MSU Greek Community with assistance from ASMSU, local businesses and the City of East Lansing. The goal of the event is to provide a safe environment for local children to celebrate the holiday.

    Every year, MAC Avenue is closed off the Friday before Halloween for the event and there are a number of fun activities for children including candy, haunted houses, games, and pumpkin carving. McGruff the crime dog and the East Lansing Police and Fire Departments are also there. Approximately 1,500 children attend this annual event.

    Delta Chi Fraternity has also organized a Safe Halloween Haunted House for the past three years.

  • The East Lansing Film Society sponsors two film festivals and one film competition each year in addition to having bi-weekly film showings from September through May. Five members of the advisory committee are MSU faculty. The committee coordinates all of the year's events.

    During the East Lansing Film Festival, they have 200 volunteers who do fund-raising, planning, promotion, film discussions, coordination, and guest relations. Approximately 60% of these volunteers come from MSU faculty, staff, and students. The ELFF is the only venue to showcase films from around the world in the local area.