Fresh Coast Film Festival adds free outdoor tours in Traverse City

Free sunrise outings with Bugsy Sailor, birdwatching with Nate Crane and the Grand Traverse Audubon Club, a tunnel tour at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons and a guided walk at FishPass are set to turn Fresh Coast Film Festival: Traverse City into more than a string of screenings.

The inaugural Traverse City edition runs April 30 through May 3, 2026, across seven venues in the North Boardman Lake District and downtown Traverse City. Presented by Old Mission Culture Company, the festival is billed as featuring more than 50 documentary films and nearly two dozen filmmakers from 11 states.

The outdoor tour program adds 11 limited-capacity experiences, most capped at 25 participants and offered free to festivalgoers. Registration is limited to one spot per person and three events total per person, a structure that is meant to spread access across the program and keep the tours open to families, visitors and longtime residents who want to pair a film schedule with time outdoors.

The lineup stretches across some of the region’s most recognizable places. Festivalgoers can join a walking street-art tour in the Eighth Street Corridor, a guided tour of FishPass at Union Street Dam, a group bike ride on the Boardman Lake Loop Trail with bikes provided, and Sunday hikes or walks with Leelanau Conservancy, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and Little Traverse Conservancy. The schedule also includes sunrise outings and birdwatching, linking the festival directly to Northern Michigan’s water, trails and conservation lands.

Kayak, Bike & Brew and TC Brew Bus are presenting the outdoor lineup, with additional support from Interlochen Public Radio. Organizers said the idea follows the tradition and spirit of the flagship Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette, where tours and outdoor experiences have long been part of the event’s identity.

The Traverse City festival comes with a low entry price for screenings, too. General-admission tickets were listed at $10, and Traverse City Tourism said individual screening tickets were set to go on sale Jan. 1, 2026. By February, all-access weekend passes had sold out, while day passes were still available.

The festival’s broader program also includes a Points North listening party and other events that connect the film slate to regional storytelling and environmental themes. With screenings spread across downtown and hands-on tours in places like the Boardman Lake Loop Trail, The Village at Grand Traverse Commons and FishPass, the festival is staking its claim as a spring weekend built around the places that define Traverse City.