Historic Muskegon welcomes you with festivals, food, incredible art and lots of fun (Aug. 30-31, 2025)

It's always a pleasure to get to go back to Muskegon, we just love this city located on the shores of Lake Michigan, and the very cool things that are happening here. On this episode of Behind the Mitten we'll introduce you to Skee town, and take you to cool places both old and new, hear all about one of the best Irish music festivals in the land, learn about a major art expansion, and eat some really good pizza. We kick off with the effusive Amber Mae Petersen, Marketing and Operations Manager for Visit Muskegon and her co-hort Lashelle Mikesell, Digital Marketing Coordinator. They give us a great overview of downtown, and the many nice changes that have been happening here, from businesses moving locations, to new ones opening up. One thing we mention is the beautiful Frauenthal Center, where they host the magical Singing Christmas Tree every year, plan ahead and get those tickets early.One of the largest, and best, Irish musical festivals in the country has happened for the last 25 years in Muskegon. The Michigan Irish Music Festival is happening September 11 through the 14th, and we have Morgan Witmer, the volunteer marketing coordinator for the festival on to tell us all about it. We were excited to learn that new this year there will be a Ceili (KAY-lee), which is a special Irish square dance that anyone can participate in. Organizers are pumped that on Saturday night, Skerryvore, a band from Scotland is coming for the first time. I'm excited to check out the Celtic Canines exhibit on Sunday, where I can meet (and pet!) all the breeds of traditional Irish dogs. There is also a cool Irish Instrument petting zoo on Sunday that sounds incredibly interesting. There are all sorts of Irish culture, food and drink classes as well, please be sure to register ahead of time. We have to give a shout-out to all everyone who gives thier time to this amazing event, it is entirely volunteer run.We've learned over the years that sometimes everyting just comes together, whether you planned it or not, and our time in Muskegon proved this once again. While recording at the new CORE Plaza, we realized that our friends from the Muskegon Museum of Art were also in the house. So, we invited Kirk Hallman, the Executive Director, and Cathy Mott, Assistant Director to join us and give us an update on their major expansion. We had them on last year, so it was nice to hear that it has been an incredible journey, and that all of Michigan is lucky to have this resource.The CORE Plaza is a lovely new spot for Muskegon, and has the feel of a place you might find in a much larger city. Co-owner Troy Wasserman joins us to share how this historic building remodel came to be, shares the businesses that call CORE home, including the very fun Liquid Assests Bar that runs all down one side, and talks about his family's long history in Muskegon. Stop by for lunch, or a meeting, or happy hour, or a hair cut.....CORE Plaza is a hot spot of activity, much like Muskegon.www.facebook.com/behindthemittenhttpswww.instagram.com/behindthemitten_twitter.com/BehindTheMitten#BTM #amyandgonzo #BehindtheMitten And you can find all sorts of things on our website, https://www.amyandgonzo.com/