Sounds and Sights Festival with GIG 2026

GIG – The Art of Michigan Music Visual Art Experience adds to the sights at the Sounds and Sights Festival in Chelsea.

GIG 2026 and Sounds and Sights in Chelsea

This year’s Sounds & Sights Festival in Chelsea on Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25, swapped out the cornhole boards for a big tent featuring gig posters and concert photography. For everyone involved, it was a no-brainer. GIG is all about visual arts, which fits perfectly into the “Sights” aspect of the Sounds & Sights Festival. Really, it was a win-win for all.

The GIG tent was located in the back of Palmer Commons, which was home to the Sounds & Sights Social Commons. Here you could grab beer or wine from the cash bar, check out some music on the main event stage, and grab some grub from the food trucks. 

Under the tent were three large displays featuring music posters and concert photography. Like the GIG events in Jackson, there was a music market featuring creations from some of the artists who were part of GIG this year. For those ready to learn more about the visual art of music, GIG once again included their “Saturday Sessions” with programming held at Ugly Dog Distillery (just down the street) on Saturday afternoon.

The Sights

GIG 2026

GIG 2026 included nineteen visual artists from Chelsea, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Jonesville. You can see the complete list of visual artists over at the GIG website. However, it should be noted that our student artist, Kira Angell-Litchlyter, is a recent Chelsea High School graduate who plans to study graphic design.

Along with the visual art exhibition, GIG included their music market featuring an intriguing collection of both poster art and photography. The market also included informational tables from GIG / Life In Michigan, Manchester Underground Music and Art, and Six Feet Over.

It wouldn’t be a music market without some music, and dishing out a fantastic selection of vinyl and CDs was Quarantine Records.

Saturday Sessions

A part of GIG’s mission is education. This year’s offerings included a powerful and surprisingly uplifting session on mental health and suicide prevention by Kate Harding of Six Feet Over. 

The conversation around the need for every artist (and really any business) to have a website featured Chris Simpson (Catch and Play Songs), Annie Capps (Annie and Rod Capps band / Swamp Street Design), and Jen Prouty (Jen Prouty Photography). There were lots of great reasons to overcome the social media algorithms and some great suggestions on getting started with your own website.

I had the honor of interviewing Jacob Rosenburg, Caitlin Muncy, and Jonathan Doyle about their graphic design creations. On the photography front, I was gifted with the opportunity to talk with Brandon Nagy, Terry Jones, and Derek Ketchum about their art and the ups and downs of concert photography.

Manchester Underground was on hand to capture the audio and video from these sessions, which we hope to share with you in the near future via the GIG website.

Chelsea Art Alley

Another new feature at Chelsea Sounds & Sights is the Chelsea Art Alley (located in the pedestrian corridor between 105 and 107 Main Street) behind Geek Brush Studio. Artist and Geek Brush Studio owner Brenda Fineman created the alley with the help of grant funding and community support to highlight local artists. 

A selection committee judged the artwork submitted to Geek Brush Studio to determine which pieces would be included in the alley gallery. This gallery of images was then open for public voting.

On Saturday during the Sounds & Sights Festival, the winners of the public voting were announced. In fifth place was Sally Wetzel’s Resilience. Chris Dragan’s Prosperity came in fourth. Taking third place was Debra Groth’s Weaver’s Nest. Hitting second place was my Bird Wave, with first place going to Chris Dragan’s Insploration.

Car Show

A fixture of the Sound & Sights festival is the Classic Cruiser Car Show, which takes over Middle, East, and Harrison streets in downtown Chelsea. Rows of moving sculptures were on display. While not a mechanic, I can’t help but become enchanted by these fine automobiles. 

At the intersection of Middle and East streets, the classic rock sounds of Outbound Packard provided a bit of boogie for your booty.

Chalk Art and Art Market

The sights at Chelsea Sounds & Sights just kept coming all weekend long. On Friday and Saturday, an art market held court on West Middle Street with great art that won’t break the bank. 

On Saturday, the Chalk Art competition featured stupendous street art from amateurs and professionals of all ages.

Kids Zone

For the kids, the zone was where it was at. The RC car racing looked awesome! So awesome, I think we need an adult version of this somewhere next year (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

The Sounds

Magic Bus

Kicking off the sounds at Chelsea Sounds & Sights festival on Friday night was Magic Bus. Dressed for success, this band played a super set filled with peace, love, and rock & roll. Magic Bus took you on a magic carpet ride back to the summer of love with tunes from Spirit, Cream, Rare Earth, and Crosby, Stills and Nash, among others.

The Square Pegz

Friday night ended with a late ‘80s / early ‘90s dance party thanks to The Square Pegz. They had everyone up and jumping to tunes from The Go-Go’s, Madonna, and The B-52’s along with other MTV-era hits.

Lilly MacPhee, Bob Pogue, and Scotty Karate

Saturday afternoon was a time to take it easy and enjoy three excellent acoustic music artists. Lilly MacPhee stirred the early afternoon revelers with her melodic vocals. Harmony rang supreme in the mid-afternoon with Bob Pogue. The captain of alt-country, Scotty Karate, held a barn-burner filled with his dynamite original music.

Ben Daniels Band

I’ve experienced many flavors of the Ben Daniels Band, but I have to say that Saturday’s performance at Sounds & Sights was a real treat. Ben, along with Wes Fritzemeier (mandolin), George Merkel (guitar), and Tommy Reifel (bass), played an all-acoustic set featuring a beautiful blend of bluegrass and Americana. The music felt comfortable and compelling with just a touch of Django Reinhardt swing for good measure.

The Crasherz

Sounds & Sights culminated with the soulful sounds of The Crasherz. With a dazzling horn section, rock-solid rhythms, and a myriad of phenomenal vocalists, their set put this party into high gear. They played everything from Motown classics to country to bubble gum pop. Every tune The Crasherz played was guaranteed to get people moving and having a ball.

Ari Franklin

Throughout the weekend, our friend Ari Franklin was on hand adding live sights to the sounds. Setting up an easel next to the stage, Ari created distinct paintings for all of the live music in the Social Commons during Sounds & Sights. These images captured the emotional resonance and unique character of the music. It made for an extra special part of the entire Sounds & Sights experience.

Pictures

Dive into our gallery for more photos of GIG 2026 and Sounds and Sights in Chelsea. Be sure to also check out the photos by Derek Ketchum over on Local Spins.

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