Haus of Greta Parking Lot Party Poised to Make History

Since forming their first band as Frankenmuth teenagers back in 2012, Greta Van Fleet has made an undeniable impact upon the world of contemporary rock music. With their debut single “Highway Tune” released in 2017 and subsequent Grammy award winning albums, the group quickly gained a massive following, becoming one of the most successful Rock bands to emerge from their generation thanks to a lucrative and relentless touring schedule, impressive endorsement deals, and a strong creative focus.

While the band will unfortunately not be on the bill, the 4^th Annual Haus of Greta Parking Lot Party nonetheless promises to be one of the most innovative and exciting regional events happening this summer - custom-made for the GVF Army and structured to appeal to the local arts community and music fans stretching far beyond the parameters of our Great Lakes Bay region.

Happening on Saturday, July 18^th from noon to 11 PM on the Herzog Platz, 599 Weiss Street in Frankenmuth, the festival will feature a wide array of talented art vendors (painters, ceramicists, and jewelry makers), food trucks, delicious drink selections, and live musical performances featuring  cover acts, local talent, and fan-favorite artists who celebrate or cover the band's catalog.

The musical lineup will consist of a Crowd Collaboration led by Papa Kiszka & the Voortex Band; a captivating solo set by Chase Singer, who blends the rhythmic groove of rock with the intimate storytelling of folk and is also a member of the exciting new band Foxy Cleopatra; a set from students at Major Chords for Minors followed by a set from new alternative rock band OSLO – based in Frankenmuth this young group blends catchy melodies, soaring guitar solos, and big sounding drums resulting in a strong Alt Rock sound with its own twist.

Continuing the line-up is Rocky Leroe – a sonic revival of the ‘60s & ‘70s capturing the passion and connection of a bygone era. Her full-length album released in the Spring of 2025 is the road trip you’ve been longing for.   This set will be followed with performances by the Alt-Rock sounds of The Wild Life and the premier musicianship of Therewolf, which features longtime collaborators Drew Pentkowski, Allison Scott, and Andy Scott, formerly of the award-winning group Barbarossa Brothers. Closing things out will be The Hellbound Drifters, who bring a trifecta of talent and song writing prowess to the stage, with Papa Kiszka & the Vortex Jazz & Blues Band bringing things home as the evening winds down.

Organized and created by Karen Kiszka – mother of Greta members Jake, Josh, and Sam – and founder of the Haus of Greta, the evolution of this grand endeavor began with enlisting Kernel Benny’s Popcorn and this year the Ignite the Arts Foundation, whose mission is to enrich lives, establish belonging, and connect communities through the transformative power of creativity by breaking down barriers and making the arts accessible by fostering collaboration and partnerships.

According to Karen, the Haus of Greta began with the goal of filling a gap within the Frankenmuth community. “When the band started to break and achieve success there wasn’t a lot of support in Frankenmuth at the time for fans who wanted to come to Frankenmuth and find a place to congregate,” she explains. “Haus of Greta was designed to be that sort of meeting place for Greta fans as well as a philanthropic endeavor, so all the products we sell always donate a portion of the sale to some worthwhile organization or cause that were passionate about. Our mission statement is a quote from Josh Kisza, which is ‘Where there is love, we will live on. Where there is not love, we must provide it.”  

“The Parking Lot Party was created through the combined efforts of Haus of Greta and Kernel Benny's Popcorn,” she continues. “We are committed to benefit organizations that provide support to those in need that aren't always the most visible.  In 2025, we joined forces with Ignite the Arts Foundation whose mission is in line with ours and this party.  When you attend the Parking Lot Party, you know that you'll have a great time and will be our partner in making meaningful changes in people's lives.  Be assured that proceeds from your attendance and participation are directly impacting and enriching the lives of others within our circle of awareness”

“The first Parking lot party started before Haus of Greta existed,” explains Karen. “Lori Wagner and I were doing an album release party and were looking for a place to hold it where the fans could go somewhere on a Friday night, and Colonel Benny helped us out. We’ve been doing it ever since, only this year we’re backed and organized by the nonprofit Ignite the Arts foundation. Last year we had over 1200 people but could tell that we needed more space to grow so decided this year to up the ante and move to Heritage Park, making it an outdoor event on the grass.”

\“We have about 20 local vendors and other vendors that travel from all over the country and will also be raffling some of their artwork, plus the Bavarian Inn & Lodge is graciously donating water park passes and other items for raffling, such as signed Greta T-shirts.  We are also grateful to have Frankenmuth Credit Union as our main sponsor.”

Karen enlisted my assistance because of my experience with staging Dirt Fest for so many years, and we’re having Carey Limberg’s production company handling the stage and sound, explains co-organizer Andy Dalton.  “I’m helping Karen organize the bands and take the festival to a higher level, instead of piecing everything together.”

“We’ll have live music from noon until 10 PM, dozens of painters and textile artists, a leather maker, and lots of their work will be Greta Van Fleet inspired,” he continues. “This party is all volunteer based and I’ll probably need about 50 to 60 volunteer shifts that we’ll need filled. Luckily from my days doing Dirt Fest that experience has carried over and I do still have some contacts from those days that I’ll be tapping into, but we are absolutely looking for more volunteers that want to get involved with an opportunity to work a festival that they might not otherwise have an opportunity to become involved in.  People can go to the contact form on our hausofgretaparty.com website to sign up on our volunteer page.”

When it comes to selecting musical talent for this shindig, Karen says her goal is simple.

“Part of what drives me about picking music is finding young talent that really wants to make it big and is good at what they do,” she reflects. “I can see the talent in the groups we feature and all they need is exposure, which is the way it was with my boys – they were very good, only it was very hard to get exposure, so I like to present opportunities for these artists. Andy has his foot in that pool of musicians and bands out there with the drive and desire to make an impact, so he has been very helpful.  My husband and I saw Oslo perform at Fischer Hall and we knew one of the boys because they had connections to my boys, so I wanted them to be involved, and Andy agreed there was a good synergy.”

Proceeds from the event will be supporting an organization called IC3 that stands for Intentional Collaborative Community Connection. “They’re working on creating a residential-type community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” explains Karen. “It used to be kids would die because we didn’t understand what was going on for people with closed-head injuries or Downs syndrome, and now we have kids with these conditions outlive their parents and because of poor healthcare it’s traumatizing an shocking and dangerous if the parents don’t have somewhere  to put their children that is safe, so that’s what IC3 is working on developing – putting together a living community that is for that group of people.”

“Part of that plan is a performance space and that's where Ignite the Arts, which is very close to House of Greta, wants to help out because it’s part of our mission statement, which is about establishing belonging and enriching peoples’ Ives with art. Within this community there will be a community center that has a performance space and an art space, so Ignite the Arts along with House of Grata will be supporting IC3mainly this year. They’re working on getting a working model set up in Frankenmuth.”

Will there be any surprises?  Will the Kiska boys be returning to join the celebration?  “No,” laughs Kaen. “The boys are not going to show up. Everybody wants to know and I wish I could get them to show up, but no – they’re busy right now doing their thing. I think it would blow up Frankenmuth if they were showing up but we wouldn’t announce it ahead of time. It would be a surprise treat for anyone that came.”

People are asking how to get tickets, so here’s the scoop.  There are TWO ways to join the party this year, no tickets needed!  Option 1: The Rosebud Special — $75. Available now on the Parking Lot Party website - HausOfGretaParty.com and includes an Entry band, official event t-shirt, all-access activity wristband, and Goodie Bag.  OR Option 2: Pay at the Party ---$10 entry at the gate. All-access activity wristband: $35. Official T-Shirt $35.

“We’ll also have some cool activities like face painting and a photo booth,” adds Andy. “Plus, the Goodie Bags. The face painting will have a recommended donation attached to it, and then we have an activity stamp similar to when you go to Cedar Point and there’s an extra fee for these little activities that go on, like $5.00 for guessing your weight or age.”

“One of the advantages with the Rosebud Special is that it gives you unlimited access and you can do any of the activities as many times as you want, or get 500 different kinds of tattoos if you want, so it’s like an all-inclusive pass and you don’t have to pull out your wallet every five seconds to do something.”

“This is a rain or shine event, but we have a giant 80 by 100-foot tent if we need it,” concludes Andy.” Even if it rains, we can put this whole thing underneath a big tent, and the show will still go on without a hitch; but if it’s a sunny, day we’ll expand the footprint and be more out in the grass. We’ll have food trucks and a full-service bar and espresso bar.  Greta Van Fleet fans tend to be younger, so this is also an All-Ages Event.”