By Kelly Mirgeaux
The family-friendly Virginia Avenue Music Festival is expanding to five days. This year’s event will run from Wednesday, May 9, to Sunday, May 13, bringing hundreds of national, regional and local acts to Indianapolis.
The festival (originally called the Virginia Avenue Folk Fest) was created by Mike Angel and Patrick Burtch to bring local musicians, artists, businesses, and residents together in the heart of Fountain Square along Virginia Avenue.
Of the expanded format, Burtch said, “We wanted to broaden the scope of festival’s vision. We always wanted to host the event for multiple days but wanted to gain some experience in running the festival first. Multiple dates allow for more people to experience the fest.”
The festival will feature artists in the genres of folk, rock, indie/pop, hip-hop, experimental/psychedelic, funk/soul and instrumental. “We are trying to focus on artists who are of exceptional quality that may not receive as much musical recognition that we think they should,” Burch said.
The festival is free and, with the exception of performances scheduled at Hi-Fi & Pioneer, are for those of all ages. Over 60 vendors will be present during the five days, with the majority set up over the weekend. Performances will take place on over 10 stages throughout Fountain Square. Wednesday–Friday performances will be in the evening, with music all day on Saturday and Sunday.
In addition to the amazing lineup, musicians, collaborators, photographers and local artists can participate in four panels, including ones on Indiana record labels and concert photography.
The five-day lineup, including artist bios and venues along with information on street closures, parking and volunteer opportunities, can be found at virginiaavenuemusicfest.com.
