APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – Mile of Music is officially back.
With the mantra of “let’s all get back in the groove,” the producers of Mile of Music have announced the Mile 8 festival for August 5th-8th in Downtown Appleton.
Dave Willems, president of Willems Marketing & Events (WME) and festival curator, said there will be practical, common sense measures woven into this year’s event to balance the return to live music-loving normalcy with the realities of life amid the subsiding pandemic.
“More than ever, we’re asking our fans, artists and host venues to continue working together to again put common courtesy on stage, front and center, for this year’s fest,” Willems said. “This is an opportunity for Appleton to continue to show the state and the country that we can do something very special while doing it responsibly and safely as we bounce back from such difficult days.”
Willems said Mile 8 will offer many of the features that original music fans from Wisconsin and around the country – a typical Mile fest draws fans from all 50 states – have come to expect from the ‘walkable, good vibes-oriented’ event that begins at noon on Thursday and continues to approximately 6 p.m. on
Sunday, typically on the first weekend in August each year.
“We heard from so many people how important it was, and if there was any way to bring the festival back and bring the good vibes back to downtown,” Willems told WTAQ News. “There is a much bigger thing that was standing in the way, and we needed to make sure that we were going to be able to do it safely from the health protocol, do it right.”
But Willems says it won’t be quite up to par with past Mile events, but it’s still going to be special.
The return of the festival will see nearly 650 live music sets and music education sessions throughout the four-day main run at more than 40 host venues and festival spaces. The final list of venues will be announced soon, with some finalization of host spaces still taking place.
“We want to make sure that at all times, there was outside music available for folks who came down. In the end, it’s going to be a pretty even split. There’ll be about 50 percent of the music at indoor venues, and about 50 percent will be outside,” Willems said. “With some of the smaller venues, it’s just really hard to do things or you’re not feeling really congested or, as I like to refer to it, where it’s ‘noses to noggins’. We’re trying to give people a chance to enjoy the music where it’s not that.”
Willems said about 150 original music artists and Lawrence music education team members will be featured at Mile 8.
“We’re excited that the number of artists is impressive again and the roster itself will be chock-full of talented national, regional, statewide and local performers,” he said. “There will be some brand new faces coming, and we’re excited about those a lot of artists that we’re booking right now. We went back to the well of artists we had already lined up for Mile 8 last summer, we felt it was only fair that we reach out to them first…A nice combination usually, and our fans tend to really like that because they get a chance to see some of the artists that they really started to follow and enjoy, and yet to get a whole brand new perspective with with some new artists too.”
The First 50 artists committed to play Mile 8 will be announced Tuesday. The remainder of the artist and music education lineup will be released in the weeks that follow, with the detailed festival schedule of performances expected in mid-July.
One of the big adjustments for Mile 8 will be the shift of a significant amount of the music from indoor to outdoor. Whereas the average amount of outdoor music at the festival has been around 25-percent, the festival’s managing director, Mike Van Thull of WME, said this year’s event will be roughly split between outdoor and indoor venues.
“Coming out of the pandemic, we feel this is the right modification for this year,” Van Thull said. “With more outside, we do become more susceptible to weather issues, but it’s intended as a one-year shift.”
The time between each live set will increase to 35 minutes. Disposable microphone covers will be thrown away between each act. Portable restrooms will be spaced farther apart. Signs will remind visitors to socially distance during the festival.
With the uncertainty around this year’s festival affecting sponsorship drives, organizers say several stages remain open to sponsors. A funding campaign, “Go the Extra Mile for The Mile,” will allow members of the public to support the festival. It is set to run from July 6-Aug. 4.
More details about this year’s Music-Makers Subscriptions and Adopt-an-Artist opportunities will be released on June 30, along with the all-important volunteer portal. Mile of Music typically utilizes more than 400 volunteers throughout the four days of the festival. The portal will include a listing of volunteer opportunities and sign-up capability.
More information about the festival can be found at the Mile of Music website.
Comments