Leilapalooza Says Goodbye After 16 Years In Battle Creek

After 16 years, the Leila Arboretum Music Festival has announced that it will not be holding its annual Leilapalooza Music Festival in Battle Creek in 2026.

It’s been a hard year for the Leilapalooza Committee, and as funding continues to be cut, the ability to host an annual event becomes harder and harder as the years go by.

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Recently, they took to Facebook to inform the public that this year the music festival would not be taking place:

Sadly, due to a decline in sponsorship availability, attendance, and volunteerism over the past few years, we are putting a pause on the Leila Arboretum Music Festival in Battle Creek, Michigan. We have enjoyed bringing Southwest Michigan a fun and entertaining free music festival for the past 16 years at one of the best outdoor venues in Michigan.

 

A local musician, Andy Eldridge, shared his feelings and memories of the festival:

This was my favorite festival/gig to perform at. Very thankful for the memories and all the people who helped make this possible for so many years. I was blessed to perform at 4 of these. It will surely be missed by many. To the people saying “bring in a big headliner,” That’s not what this was ever about. It was about celebrating local music and artists.

He makes a good point, as the festival's admins admitted that they did get a big-money headliner one year and it didn't go according to plan:

We did that one year and paid more for the headliner than we brought in. Plus, there were only 83 people left by the time they went on stage. We no longer have the funds as we've lost money each of the last 5 years.

Hopefully, something in the future can change that will allow them to reinvent or return to the festival.