Middle Waves is back at Headwaters Park for another celebration of indie music, community, and funky summer fun. But the festival has evolved quite a bit since its origin in 2016. Back then, it was a buzzy three-stage, multi-day festival. Community leaders were inspired by a trip to the Des Moines 80/35 Music Festival, which was a perfect template for the ultimate destination festival.
Between the accelerating growth of Downtown, Fort Wayne’s notable musical ties (e.g. home to Sweetwater), and the nation’s music festival boom, Middle Waves was a natural step forward for community leaders looking to invest in Fort Wayne’s quality of life—and for those looking to make it a destination to other Midwesterners. So they formed a steering committee made up of experts in marketing, talent booking, hospitality, economic development, fundraising and community development—everything you need to pull off the intricacies and nuances of a music festival.
And pull it off, they did. Middle Waves was a hit—a thing of magic for music enthusiasts, capturing the spirit of larger, national music festivals. It was a special place where you could “get weird,” make lasting memories, and explore new artists and genres.
But an event of such magnitude isn’t made without blood, sweat, and tears. Producing a music festival, especially one of this scale, is intense. It requires a lot of resources, both financial and in the form of volunteers willing to orchestrate and operate each of its moving parts (which is practically a full time job).
Middle Waves soldiered on for years, facing inconvenient venue changes, a pandemic, and organizer burnout—all in the name of bringing a super unique music experience to the region. But in 2023, organizers faced a reckoning: how could they keep Middle Waves afloat in the face of rising production costs and volunteer fatigue?
Enter the Embassy Theatre! The Middle Waves board met with staff from the Embassy to talk about possible solutions for the festival’s longevity. And, after talking it over, the two groups agreed that it was in the best interest of the festival to let the Embassy take the Middle Wave wheel. And if anyone knows the ropes, it’s the Embassy:
- They have a dedicated staff of programming experts
- The Embassy, like Middle Waves, is a nonprofit, with experience in managing tight, complicated budgets
- The Embassy already stewards music and the arts—but they’ve been looking to break into the indie music genre and expand their audience
Despite Middle Waves’s impending windfall, though, there was a questionable cloud looming on the horizon: the festival would need to be significantly scaled back in order to ensure its sustainability.
“We took it on knowing it wouldn’t be a multi-day festival at first,” said Carly Myers from the Embassy. “Multi-day events are expensive and didn’t make sense when looking at the sustainability of the festival in the early years under our management. The Embassy is almost a 100-year institution. You don’t get that far without being mindful of sustainability.”
But trading multiple days and stages for sustainability hasn’t taken the wind out of Middle Waves’s sails. In fact, there are plenty of advantages to hosting a smaller, one-day festival. For instance, a smaller festival can be condensed with richer experiences. Plus, there are no competing performances, so you can catch the entire lineup. It’s also less of a time commitment, making it easier for more people to attend.
And then there’s the excitement of returning Middle Waves to its first home at Headwaters, where there’s more vibrant greenspace and plenty of room for sideline activities and VIP stations. Some festival experience highlights include:
- An art zone—fully equipped with a glitter bar and build-your-own flower crowns, so you can manifest your inner festival god or goddess
- A gaming zone—with modern and vintage games alike—an appeal to both Gen Z and Millennials, and really anyone looking for a quick break from the music and festivities.
- An exclusive VIP bar—no more missing bands while you wait in line!
- A vendor market—where you can shop crafts and festival-themed products from local makers
- Selfie stations—because you know this is about to be a grid-worthy experience
- Local food partners—so you can fuel up to dance or sway the night away
As for the music, the lineup is stacked with powerhouse performers, none of which have performed in Fort Wayne before:
- Phantogram Angsty, dreamy, futuristic electro-pop. “Since their debut 2010 album, Eyelid Movies, Phantogram has been comparable to no one, futurists who still manage to stay ahead of the curve more than a decade into their career. Their genre-bending approach to pop has led them to work with everyone, from Big Boi, to Subtronics, Future Islands, Deftones, the Flaming Lips, Tom Morello, and Miley Cyrus, to name just a few.”
- Mannequin Pussy Visceral, furious indie punk-rock. “Mannequin Pussy’s music feels like a resilient and galvanizing shout that demands to be heard.”
- Ratboys Soft-hearted, twangy Midwestern indie-rock. “After more than ten years and four studio albums, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were meant to be heard—expansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender—the sound of four friends operating as a single cohesive unit.”
- Post Sex Nachos Funky, upbeat indie-pop. “Post Sex Nachos delivers a raw, once-in-a-generation live show, replete with pop-hook singalongs that sweep you up, solos that make you quake, and grooves worth diving head first into.”
- Loveseat! Earnest, early-aughts-reminisent pop-punk. “It’s a mix of power pop and post-punk that bands like XTC and Yo La Tengo perfected. Loveseat! put their own spin on it, and with the infectious lead vocalist, it’s easy to lock right in.”
Each performer is somewhat of a genre-bender, offering a range of sounds and emotions to feast your ears upon.
Now that we’ve talked about the music, the experience, and the history behind Middle Waves, let’s talk about the benefits festival-goers reap—and why your support of Middle Waves matters.
- Exposure to new artists: With the rise of Spotify and other streaming services, our musical tastes have become less diversified. That’s because algorithms are designed to spit out music recommendations and playlists that sound exactly like what we’ve listened to in the past, inevitably sending us into a musical echo chamber. Music festivals are one of the OG ways to discover new music—before tech giants took over our earbuds.
- An antidote to the “loneliness epidemic”: Consuming art together brings people together. It’s a great place to meet like-minded people or bond more deeply with the people you already know. And because the festival experience includes many opportunities for side quests (a la gaming and art stations), there’s plenty to occupy your senses if you start to feel anxious or overwhelmed.
- It’s technically a bargain: Think of it like buying in bulk. Music festivals are practically the Costco of live concerts. Where else can you watch multiple bands for around $10 per performance? That’s a cheap cover charge, babe. Even Forbes is with me on this—check out their article.
- Supporting Middle Waves supports our community: If you believe in the arts community (or even just the Fort Wayne community), Middle Waves is worthy of your support. When the good folks at the Embassy took Middle Waves on, they projected operating at a loss of 80-100K. That’s a lot to put on the line in order to provide our community with an experience as unique and vivacious as Middle Waves. And they did so because they believe in what Middle Waves is and what it has the potential to be. In the coming years, they hope to grow and bring Middle Waves back to the multi-day destination it was intended to be. But they can only do so with our support. So even if a band called Mannequin Pussy scares you a little bit, but you care about the arts (or the growth of our city), at the very least, consider supporting The Embassy with a donation to help them recoup their costs.
- It keeps the Midwest music festival alive: Listen, the world of music festivals is in danger, on a global level—and for many reasons. Like much of the entertainment and hospitality industries, festivals are still reeling from COVID while trying to adapt to this new post-COVID world, where in-home streaming is keeping people on their couches. Even that fabulous inspiration for Middle Waves, the 80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines was canceled this summer for financial reasons—and it’s been a staple in Iowa since it began in 2008.
The changing state of music festivals is incredibly complex and can be attributed to everything from shifting consumer habits (see: Gen Z’s loneliness epidemic and aging Millennial social crowds) and the ongoing recession threats. This Planet Money article goes deep into all the reasons music festivals are seeing a dip.
All this to say, are we really going to let music festivals die on our watch? I don’t think so. The music festival experience is one that transcends generations. Like, truly: The first music festival dates back to ancient Greece. It’s the ultimate social event, and in our modern-day divided world, there’s nothing more important than coming together.
Plus, how cool would it be to be home to one of the surviving festivals? But it can only thrive as long as we support it. So rise up—and have a lot of fun in the process! Get your tickets here.
