Reporter Joe LaPorte played music from artists that will be featured at Mid West Music Fest and played portions of his interview with the festival’s Executive Director Dylan Hilliker live on St. Thomas’ campus radio station KUST.
After a two-year hiatus, local music festival Mid West Music Fest will return Friday, April 29 to the streets, shops and parks of downtown Winona, Minnesota.
Mid West Music Fest has been a stomping ground for local Minnesotan musicians and music-lovers since 2009. While the festival aims to embrace and support local artists who are trying to grow their fanbase, this year’s lineup also includes national touring acts such as Polica, Haley Bonar and Bad Bad Hats.
Organizers of the festival resorted to live studio sessions and a few in-person performances when COVID-19 emerged in 2020 but with revised CDC guidelines, the festival will again be held in-person.
“It’s nice to see that stuff coming back,” Executive Director Dylan Hilliker said. “It’s going to be a cool festival because it is a walking festival… it’s centered around downtown Winona and all the businesses and stages that are involved are within like five to 10 minutes walking distance from each other.”
The festival has a blend of outdoor and indoor stages hosted by breweries, bars and coffee shops; Levee Park, Winona’s waterfront park, hosts the main outdoor stage. The two coffee shop stages, Blooming Grounds Coffee House and Acoustic Cafe, do not require tickets.
“We were doing a lot of forecasting and trying to figure out ‘do we stick with a hybrid model … virtual sessions or in-person?’” Hilliker said. “What we ended up deciding to do was going full force on the festivals, in trying to make something happen live and in-person so that we can really get back in those communities and start giving back to artists more.”
The festival has undergone major changes since the start of the pandemic and organizers will continue to refine the event as the situation progresses.
“Even in 2021, it looked dramatically different than what it did in 2019… so I’m excited that we get to go through a reimagining and a re-formation of what Mid West is,” Hilliker said.
In 2020, the pandemic brought a halt to all live performances. At the time, Hilliker was with ROCKchester, a local music festival in Rochester, MN, and the two local festivals reacted to the pandemic in the same way – both resorted to recording live studio sessions at Carpet Studios in Rochester and uploading them to YouTube.
Mid West Music Fest had a few live performances in 2021 but continued with their live studio sessions. With the return to in-person, organizers hope the original spirit of the festival can be revived and they foresee the festival thriving in the years to come.
“I think we’re in a spot where we’re building back to be even stronger than when it was pre-pandemic… I think we’re poised to keep growing in the future years,” Hilliker said.
The event will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test result within 72 hours of the event and masks are encouraged. Day passes start at $45 for one day and $70 for two days. Tickets and other information can be found on their website https://midwestmusicfest.org.
Joe LaPorte can be reached at lapo7605@stthomas.edu.