Community Calendar

The inaugural Fresh Coast Film Festival: Traverse City (FCFF/tc) brings four days of documentary film to seven venues across the North Boardman Lake District and downtown Traverse City, April 30–May 3, 2026. Presented by the local nonprofit Old Mission Culture Company, the festival features 50+ films celebrating the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest, with nearly two dozen filmmakers attending from 11 states.

Highlights include two evening galas at the City Opera House — the Michigan premiere of the Mary Oliver documentary Saved by the Beauty of the World (May 2) and the northern Michigan premiere of Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching (May 1) — plus artist panels, outdoor tours, student films, and passholder after-parties at local breweries. Day passes $35 | Gala tickets $20 | GA screenings $10.

Price/Price Range: $10–$35
Ticketing Website: TC.FreshCoastFilm.com
Presenting Organization: Old Mission Culture Company
Organization Email: traversecity@freshcoastfilm.com
Organization Website: TC.FreshCoastFilm.com
Designation: Not For Profit

This fun comedy begins with a theater-loving narrator playing his favorite cast recording. As the record spins, a 1920s musical springs to life in his apartment. The show-within-a-show follows a wedding disrupted by gangsters, mistaken identities and a tipsy chaperone. Hilarious and heartfelt, it’s both a loving parody and a tribute to the magic of classic musicals.

The inaugural Fresh Coast Film Festival: Traverse City (FCFF/tc) brings four days of documentary film to seven venues across the North Boardman Lake District and downtown Traverse City, April 30–May 3, 2026. Presented by the local nonprofit Old Mission Culture Company, the festival features 50+ films celebrating the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest, with nearly two dozen filmmakers attending from 11 states.

Highlights include two evening galas at the City Opera House — the Michigan premiere of the Mary Oliver documentary Saved by the Beauty of the World (May 2) and the northern Michigan premiere of Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching (May 1) — plus artist panels, outdoor tours, student films, and passholder after-parties at local breweries. Day passes $35 | Gala tickets $20 | GA screenings $10.

Price/Price Range: $10–$35
Ticketing Website: TC.FreshCoastFilm.com
Presenting Organization: Old Mission Culture Company
Organization Email: traversecity@freshcoastfilm.com
Organization Website: TC.FreshCoastFilm.com
Designation: Not For Profit

Free, peer-led mental health support groups:

*NAMI Family Support (Mondays at 6pm. Online and in-person at HBA, 3040 Sunset Ln. See website for zoom link.)

*NAMI Connection Group (Mondays at 6pm. Online, see website for zoom link)

Join us for part four of a five-part conversation series hosted by Derenda Lefevre of Open Your Eyes To Access (OYETA). These conversations will focus on centering disability stories, the history of disability in our communities, and provide opportunities for non-disabled people to learn about disability, ableism, and what it means to embrace accessibility and equity in our community spaces. Refreshments will be served and documentation for continuing ed hours are available upon request.

#4 Disability Justice: Our fourth conversation will explore our shared language, disability etiquette, the characteristics of an ableist culture and its antidotes, the future of accessibility, and celebrate disability culture.

Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day encourages healthier, more eco-friendly ways for students to get to school. Norte helps facilitate this event at schools across Northern Michigan.

To learn more, contact your local school, or email julie@norteyouthcycling.org if you'd like to help facilitate the event at your school!

Date: Wednesday, April 22, and Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Time: 10 am–12 pm
Registration Deadline: Sunday, April 19, 2026
Location: Glen Arbor Arts Center Classroom
Skill: Beginner to Intermediate
Membership Status

In this class, students will be invited to get cozy, unwind, and be inspired for the Spring Season. Tea and cookies will be provided as we look at vintage embroidered tablecloths, pop cultural TV references like Bridgerton, and floral embroideries from Project Runway. Students will be invited to create their own floral design for their table runner or choose from templates and source imagery. Students will learn transfer techniques on how to take their design from paper to fabric. We will also talk about how to create unique color stories that will make for a cohesive design.

Objective: Skill Development, Creativity Enhancement

Outcome: Creation of Artwork, Inspiration and Creativity

Free, peer-led mental health support groups: NAMI Family Support and NAMI Connection Group.

Both held Wednesdays, 12pm at Christ Church, 430 Fair St. (See website for zoom link)

Free, peer-led mental health support: NAMI Connection Group. Held Wednesdays, 5pm Online (see website for zoom link) and at Child & Family Services, 3785 Veterans Dr.

The Elk Rapids Cinema, in partnership with Northwest Education Services (North Ed) and the Great Start Collaborative of Traverse Bay will host a free public screening of the acclaimed documentary No Small Matter on Thursday, May 7, 2026.

No Small Matter is the first feature-length documentary to explore the critical importance of early childhood education and care in America. Through powerful stories and compelling research, the film examines how children’s earliest experiences—from birth to age five—shape their lifelong health, learning, and opportunity. Drawing on neuroscience, education research, and real family stories, the film reveals both the remarkable capacity of young children’s developing brains and the growing crisis in affordable, high-quality childcare.

Doors will open at 5:30 PM, followed by a brief 15-minute live introduction by Full Tilt Comedy. The film will begin at 6:15 PM, followed by a short discussion.

The Elk Rapids Cinema, owned and operated by the Chalfonte Foundation, continues its mission of serving as a cultural and educational gathering space for northern Michigan through films, performances, and community engagement events.
Community members, parents, educators, policymakers, and advocates are warmly invited to attend.

🎟 Admission: Free and open to the public