The Porcupine Poster Journey
- gilfaloartdesign
- Nov 19
- 4 min read
We had the incredible opportunity to create for the long standing music festival, The Porcupine Mountains Music Festival https://porkiesfestival.org/ This organic, community driven, volunteer based festival in its 19th year is located in one of the most scenic areas of the country, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, or as some would say “Up Der in the Nort Woods….eh!!
We traveled quite a ways from Milwaukee, about a 6.5 hour drive through winding roads of birch and pine trees. We stopped in a few small towns visiting local businesses like the Randall Bakery https://share.google/PB3BSHkPEgLWfYQ6R in Wakefield MI. Don’t get me started on the handmade Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies… and only .75 cents each!! My only regret was not trying a vegi pasty…a handheld pie, traditionally filled with beef, potatoes, rutabaga, and onion, encased in a sturdy, crimped crust.
From there we traveled to our final destination, the festival, located on a ski hill within the Porcupine Mountain State Park. With 3 stages of music, we knew we’d be in for a good day.
We were greeted by John, a volunteer who handed us our guest vip passes. He pointed us in the direction we needed to go and we were ready to make magic happen.
We then made our way to the merch area. They were still setting up as we were a bit early. We helped get the poster set up, took in all our different designs on the shirts, sweatshirts and even stickers.
Let me say, this was a super cool experience to be part of. We heard from so many volunteers and patrons that were in love with the designs and colors of this year’s merchandise. That’s makes the heart smile 😊
It’s now a few hours later, we explored parts of the venue which included a A frame building (one stage was in there), a 9 hole disc golf course through the woods and were even given access to the Performing artists Green room to treat ourselves to whatever we wanted! Talk about Rockstar treatment.
We then finally got to meet the director of the event, Cheryl. The kindest person you’ll meet. She raved about the merch and our commitment to providing such a great experience to work with. She made us feel so special.
The festival gates had opened and people were coming in, heading to set up their chairs in the ski hill so they could start enjoying themselves. We were given a table to sit at for an hour, next to the merch tables. They directed patrons to visit us, talk to the artists that created the merch… what an experience :-)
We talked shop with so many people, doodled posters with small porcupines and even signed a few kids foreheads… JK, but I would have if asked 😂
We kept hearing from the people in line buying the merch that this was beyond their favorite designs ever and they were so happy with all the choices. We were tickled pink.
We made it over to our chairs after that, ready to watch some music. First up were the Bootstrap Boys https://www.thebootstrapboys.com, a good ole country music band out of Grand Rapids. We saw them setting up and I asked if they could cover “Fire on the mountain” by the legendary Grateful Dead. Well low and behold, about 1/2 way through the show they announced they were playing a request!! Yep, I got my song and a shoutout!! How frickin cool is that.
Next up was Ivy Ford https://www.ivyfordmusic.com/contact-bookings, a sultry voiced blues musician from Chicago. Her guitar playing was over the top and her rendition of Give me one reason by Tracy Chapman was just outstanding. She jammed it out a bit bringing us all back and forth, so good!!
Then…. The rains came!!! And they came… and they came.
The storm cell that unleashed its fury was one of the heaviest rains I’ve been part of. We packed up the car and headed out. We were staying about 2.5 hours away in Tomahawk WI with family. The trip back was the worst we’ve driven through in our lives. We pulled over 5 times within a 100 mile trip, drove with our hazards on for a little while and got pelted not only once but twice with hail!!
It’s seems we stayed directly in the middle of the storm the whole way, well except the last 3.5 miles to our Destination, where it appeared that it hadn’t rained a single drop.
To say we had a fun time would be an understatement. Besides the rain, the trip up and the short time we did get to stay was nothing less than pure enjoyment. If you have the ability to go to this festival, make the journey. Thank you Friends of the Porkies, We look forward to going back and exploring the area more, we just didn’t get enough time in “Pure Michigan” ❤️
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