City of Michigan City Hosts MC Food and Music Fest

Michigan City citizens celebrated Memorial Day weekend with the MC Food and Music Fest, a free, family-friendly gathering equipped with food trucks, small vendors, and live music. Crowds gathered at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park to get together over a wide variety of food and live music.

Previously, Michigan City ran an event solely using food trucks to bring crowds in. When the city began to see stagnation, it turned to Victor Tieri, owner of Harbor Country Adventures. Tieri’s experience with his Michigan City concert series, Live at the Lakefront, allowed him a unique perspective on the food truck event. He proposed organizing live music to accompany the food trucks.

“There’s no two greater things that bring people together than good food and good music, and we need more of that in the world right now,” Tieri said. “It’s just a great marriage between bringing the city together, the food trucks, and the music. Everybody enjoys it.”

Following the addition of music, the festival added the opportunity for local vendors to pitch booths and sell their goods or services to community members attending the event. This year, vendors included jewelry, face paint, books, rosaries, and pastries, among many others.

Under Tieri’s changes, the event has bloomed. This festival hosted three music acts, all local and varied in their instruments, genres, and aesthetics. The bands included Midwest Hype, Rick King’s Royal Hustle, and Disco Stew.

On top of Tieri’s work, various groups provided support, both logistically and financially, to the event. Arnett Construction, the premiere sponsor of the event, played a large role in the funding of an event that remains free to the public. Harbor Country Adventures, Tieri’s company, also provided a large amount of assistance in setting up the event.

Terry Greetham, Director of Special Events for the City of Michigan City, noted the heavy role that community teamwork played in bringing the event together.

“I’m very grateful for Mayor Angie and all of the city departments, the Michigan City Park and Recreations Department, especially the maintenance staff. They’ve got to take care of not only Washington Park, but all of the parks in Michigan City,” Greetham said. “Then we throw a festival like this, and they still come down and help us out. And of course, the Michigan City Police Department is here, making sure everybody’s staying safe.”

Looking to the future, both Greetham and Tieri want to expand little by little to help keep the momentum going. Greetham noted the importance of building up, rather than rapidly expanding the scope of the festival.

“If you go from small and then try and make it really big, it doesn’t always work that way. Every year, we just want to expand a little bit at a time,” Greetham said. “People come down, they enjoy it, and then, later on, we hope they’ll remember it and say ‘We’re going to do that again next year.’”

Tieri highlighted his specific hopes for the way the event platforms its artists and small vendors.

“I’d like to see the opportunity for our craft vendor booths to be more of a jumping off point for some of our local businesses that are just starting out and don’t have brick and mortar places,” Tieri said. “There’s great people in the community that are doing stuff out of their houses or wherever, and to give them an opportunity to showcase their talents or their wares is a goal of ours. Same thing with our local musicians, we love giving them the opportunity to play live, original stuff.”

For Tieri, his attachment to Michigan City and willingness to help draws from a well of gratitude for the city and the things it offers to the Northwest Indiana region.

“I’d like to thank everybody in the city of Michigan City for giving me the opportunity to partner up with them. We are the crown jewel of the lakefront, and there’s nobody that has what we have to offer,” Tieri said. “It’s such a great place, and I love it. I’m very thankful to have my business located in Michigan City.”

For more information about future Michigan City events, you can visit the city’s website.