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Over the past few years, I’ve followed OMP friends Joe Beyer and Beth Milligan on social media as they traveled to Marquette for the Fresh Coast Film Festival, a documentary film festival celebrating the outdoor lifestyle, water-rich environment and resilient spirit of the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest.
I kept thinking I might take an excursion there myself one of these years, but now Joe and Beth are bringing the festival right to Traverse City through their 501(c)3 nonprofit Old Mission Culture Company, founded in 2021 to bring arts and culture experiences to local audiences.
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Beth is head writer for the Traverse City Ticker and one of northern Michigan’s most trusted local journalists. She has deep community roots across the Traverse City Film Festival, National Writers Series, Up North Pride, and the Leelanau Conservancy. Joe spent 14+ years at Sundance Institute as Director of Digital Initiatives before returning home to Michigan. He’s the former Executive Director of the Traverse City Film Festival, and co-created the documentary Marqueetown, now streaming on 120+ PBS affiliates.
It’s so fun to watch an event like this take shape in the minds of friends through the years. You see the wheels turning, you see things happening, you see connections being made, and then finally — with a whole lot of work and thought and collaboration — it’s actually happening and we’re all invited.
The inaugural Fresh Coast Film Festival: Traverse City (FCFF/tc) is debuting Thursday, April 30, through Sunday, May 3, at seven venues across the Boardman Lake District and downtown Traverse City. Bringing together an extraordinary gathering of more than 50 storytellers, filmmakers, and special guests, the roster includes Emmy winners Drew Mason, Rory McHarg, and Stephen McGee, 2025 CNN Hero of the Year Quilen Blackwell (subject of In Our Nature), Sundance darlings, SXSW honorees, Murrow Award-winning journalists, and Cannes-honored editors alongside conservation scientists, contemporary Indigenous filmmakers, urban farmers, and beloved community builders from across Michigan and beyond.
From the halls of National Geographic to the shores of Lake Superior, their combined work spans five continents, dozens of festivals, and one shared belief: that the Great Lakes region has stories worth telling. Notably, all three co-founders of the Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette — Aaron Peterson, Bugsy Sailor and Bill Thompson — will come together for a rare on-stage conversation.
FCFF/tc will also feature special programming from partners including Interlochen Public Radio — which will broadcast live from the festival and host a Points North podcast listening party — and Here:Say Storytelling, which will offer a special adventure-themed storytelling event called “Into the Wild.”
Audiences will have a chance to interact with filmmakers and special guests at nearly every FCFF/tc screening and event. Free public panel discussions will be offered on topics including “Advocacy and Storytelling,” “Making in the Midwest,” and “A Conversation with Geoffrey Halstead,” the artist behind this year’s FCFF/tc artwork and designs.
While all-access festival weekend passes and Friday and Saturday day passes are now sold out, Sunday day passes, individual screening tickets, and free outdoor tours and experiences are still available. Tickets and schedules can be found anytime by visiting tc.freshcoastfilm.com.
The 2026 festival is proudly presented by Traverse City Tourism, West Shore Bank, Ludus, Hannah Herrington-Mary Fitch Family Foundation, and Green Brick Foundation.
Here are a few of the key events featuring special filmmaker discussions.
Opening Night Gala / Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. / Elev8 Climbing and Fitness: Stories of Hope Shorts Program, including a Q&A with filmmakers JohnPaul Morris, Dusan Harminc, Jason Whalen, and Aaron Peterson.
Friday Night Gala / Friday, May 1, at 7 p.m. / City Opera House: Listers – A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching, including a Q&A with filmmakers Owen and Quentin Reiser, birder Nate Crane and ornithologist Hannah Toutonghi.
Saturday Night Gala / Saturday, May 2, at 7 p.m. / City Opera House: Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the Word, including a Q&A with filmmaker Sasha Waters moderated by journalist Beth Milligan.
Artist Panel / Thursday, April 30, at 4 p.m. / Traverse City Whiskey Co. Stillhouse: “Advocacy and Storytelling,” with special guests Maurice Champion (Belonging: A Journey of Inclusion and Nature), Christy Frank and Alex Goetz (A Bird in the Hand), moderated by Christal Frost Anderson, journalist and host of the Currently Podcast. Free to the public.
Artist Panel / Friday, May 1, at 4 p.m. / Traverse City Whiskey Co. Stillhouse: “Making in the Midwest,” with special guests Rory McHarg (A Two-Hearted Tale), Lexie Garrett (The Wild Mile) and Tim Warmanen (The Humongous Fungus Among Us), moderated by Chris Loud, Writer/Producer and Co-Founder of The Boardman Review. Free to the public.
Artist Panel / Saturday, May 2, at 4:30 p.m. / The Alluvion: “A Convo with Geoffrey Holstad,” with special guests Alluvion Arts Curator Jessica Kooiman-Parker and Artist and Designer Geoffrey Holstad (Cabin-Time: E. Sierras).
For a full list of films, guests (56 guests from 12 U.S. states) and events, click over to the festival website here. You can also buy tickets there.
Follow Old Mission Culture Company/Fresh Coast Film Festival: Traverse City (FCFF/tc) on Facebook and Instagram.
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