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May is the month when Bloomington sheds half of its population as 50,000 Indiana University students leave town for summer break.
Mike McAfee, executive director of Visit Bloomington, is tasked with promoting things to do in the city during its “quiet season.” Fortunately, he’s working with a lively concert calendar this summer.
The top of the list is occupied by the annual Granfalloon festival, a celebration inspired by Indianapolis author Kurt Vonnegut and organized by the IU Arts and Humanities Council. In 2023, Granfalloon brought the Flaming Lips to downtown Bloomington for a free show. This year, rock band Sleater-Kinney will play outdoors for free on June 8, and the show’s lineup includes the world’s coolest adolescent band, the Linda Lindas, as a supporting act.
In mid-May, the second Cosmic Songwriter Festival will elevate the old-school tradition of the “guitar pull”—or musicians getting together and taking turns playing their songs—to intriguing pairs of artists playing four different Bloomington venues on consecutive nights.
And for the reasonable price of free, the Thursday Night Switchyard Park Music Series will showcase critically acclaimed acts Tune-Yards, an experimental duo featuring Bloomington native Nate Brenner, and Lindsay Lou, a rising bluegrass star.
McAfee said part of his strategy to entice music-themed road trips to Monroe County is to focus on weekday events.
“The challenge has been, ‘How do we create weekday business, more weekday leisure visitors?’ ” he said.
McAfee earmarks part of Visit Bloomington’s budget for the “Live Performance Venue Grant,” which tops out at $2,500 for a venue wanting to defray expenses for a performance on a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
Music, comedy and live theater events are eligible, and McAfee said his organization has selected more than 20 successful applicants this year.
“A portion of it has to be used for marketing,” McAfee said. “You can use it to pay talent, for marketing and for logistical costs. They’re small grants, but I know it’s tough to make it here on a Tuesday night in February. We want to help cut their costs and help them keep doing it. You have to keep doing it and keep building that reputation as a great destination.”
The Cosmic Songwriter Festival emerged from a monthly theme night at cozy Bloomington venue the Orbit Room. McAfee said there’s a waitlist of more than a year for songwriters hoping to bounce their work off peers at the Cosmic Songwriter Showcase.
This year’s festival, scheduled May 15-18, will unfold at the Orbit Room, the Bluebird, Blockhouse Bar and Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Performers include IU alum Gabe Lee and John Prine protege Tre Burt. The festival will reach its crescendo when Indiana folk music icon Carrie Newcomer shares the Buskirk-Chumley stage with Wood Brothers singer Oliver Wood.
Single-night ticket prices range from $14.50 to $22.50. The May 15 show at the Orbit Room is sold out.
McAfee said Bloomington’s target markets include Indianapolis, Chicago, Louisville, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne and Evansville.
“It’s a big deal here if we can help bring in a couple of hundred music fans during the week, every week of the year,” McAfee said. “It makes a big difference in the bottom line for those venues.”
For more information on the Cosmic Songwriter Festival, visit cosmicsongwriter.com. For more information on Granfalloon, visit granfalloon.indiana.edu. And for more information on the Thursday Night Switchyard Park Music Series, visit bloomington.in.gov.
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Immerse yourself in the bastion of Liberalism, sounds fun!
Lol imagine seeing a post about a town in your state trying to improve commerce and spinning it in a political scope. It must be sad living this way