Organizers in Columbus are looking to take a few lessons from SXSW by bringing a similar urban music festival to the city featuring free outdoor music stages and vibrant nights of bar hopping to highlight the best music the city has to offer.
Fashion Meets Music Festival aims to show off the Columbus music scene while highlighting the city as a hub of fashion. The festival starts as Ohio University students get one week of fall semester under their belts running August 29-31.
National acts including Local Natives, Cold War Kids, Circa Survive, New Found Glory, Switchfoot and Parachute have already been announced as free performing acts with a number of higher budget national acts set to be announced in the coming months.
“The festival’s founder Bret Adams went to SXSW and was like, ‘Why doesn’t Columbus have something like this?’ ” said Mason Entingh, digital communications/project coordinator for the festival and a sophomore studying marketing and video production. “(Many people) view Columbus as the hub of the Midwest. … We definitely feel like we could use it and with all the updates to the city there’s a huge push to make the community stronger.”
Fashion enters the festival through various runways and events set up around the city, showing off Columbus as the third largest city in the U.S. in number of fashion designers.
Although the mix of fashion and music may seem strange to some, the two worlds have always been largely connected as both have similar marketing tools and a desire to push the boundaries of the industry. Part of Entingh’s job is to get the word out on OU’s campus and get people to make the trip up to Columbus.
“We’re definitely looking to engage all the student populations whether it’s at Ohio State, whether it’s in Athens or Miami of Ohio,” said Melissa Dickson, communications director for the festival. “We’re definitely exploring all logistical opportunities to link the different colleges together. … There are currently a few bus routes that are available and maybe what we do is tailor it so that it meets the students needs in a better way.”
While no plans are set in stone for a bus route from campus to the city, Dickson said there are certainly conversations in place to make it happen.
The festival will also feature a 22 acre, 3,500-person urban campground where attendees can go and camp just a short walk away from all the bars where the late-night action is taking place.
Dickson said the festival is privately funded through the event’s founders but primarily funding comes from sponsorship sales as partners realize the significant attendance that the city will receive.
Tickets to get into the 12 participating bars will run $35 for the entire weekend and will feature a number of, yet-to-be-announced, national acts as well as local bands from Ohio including The Bad Veins, MojoFlo, Angela Perley & the Howlin’ Moons, Forest & The Evergreens and Sassafraz.
“Basically (every band) in Columbus is on it, and they have it all across the board too with indie bands and all sorts of stuff,” said Jack Gould, saxophonist and manager for Sassafraz. “Austin wouldn’t be considered the music town it is if it weren’t for SXSW and that really helped kick it off for the whole country to see that Austin is a music town, and this could be something similar for Columbus.”
If You Go
What: Fashion Meets Music Festival
When: August 29-31, 2014
Where: Arena District Columbus
Admission: Free outdoor stages, $35 for after party badge valid at 12 area bars.
wh092010@ohiou.edu
@Wilbur_Hoffman
