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Music Festival Making Waves This Weekend On The Downtown Riverfront

Courtesy/One Lucky Guitar
Middle Waves headliner act, the Flaming Lips, will perform Saturday night at 9, on the St. Marys Stage

Nearly two years in the making, "Middle Waves," Fort Wayne's first Destination Music Festival, kicks off tonight, from three stages, located on the downtown riverfront in Headwaters Park West and East. WBOI's Julia Meek takes a look at how the festival evolved, and what waves it intends to make this weekend.

Riverfront Fort Wayne'stwo-day Middle Waves Music Festival is attracting an audience around the tri-state area and beyond, with folks coming in from as far as Seattle to attend.

The roster features 10 national and 20 local and regional acts, including its headliner, the Flaming Lips.

According to festival co-chairs Matt Kelly and Allison Gerardot, the Flaming Lips is "the quintessential festival band." They say securing them for Middle Waves was a stroke of luck, as in-studio work has kept the band off the touring circuit and on "occasional fest-style shows-only" this summer.

The gated St. Marys Stage is located at Headwaters Park East and requires a ticket to enter.

The rest of the activities, including the Maumee and St. Joseph Stages, located at Headwaters Park West, are free and open to the public.

While it is possible to see a bit of every act, it's that "festival experience" that prevails, with an invitation to build your own line-up, "choose your own adventure."

Kelly says Middle Waves is complementing the collective "all ships rise" momentum.

"It's going to be a remarkable weekend, but what it highlights is the great things that happen the other 51 weeks of the year in Fort Wayne, and it really seeks to capture that energy and share it with the community, and inspire folks to get out and do it even more."

You can find an official guide, and complete listings of bands, activities and after-festival events at the Middle Waves website.

A Fort Wayne native, Julia is a radio host, graphic artist, and community volunteer, who has contributed to NIPR both on- and off-air for forty years. Besides being WBOI's arts & culture reporter, she currently co-produces and hosts Folktales and Meet the Music.
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