In its first year, Make Music Normal didn't actually take place all in Uptown Normal. Instead, it was a buskers festival — artists playing around town in what Normal Civic Arts Manager Adam Fox described as "planned spontaneity."
"The problem with planned spontaneity is that it's really hard to promote and get people to show up, to be like, 'Hey, go to the grocery store at 2:45 and maybe someone will have a flute. We don't know,'" Fox told WGLT in a recent interview.
Fox joined the town staff after that first year — and he had an idea.
"Right after I came in, I said, 'What if we made it more of a destination festival? What if we had it be something that people were coming to and had a central gathering place?'" Fox said. "Uptown Normal was the logical home for it. It started small and it's grown to what we're seeing this year, which is pretty amazing."
Far removed from its days as a one-stage festival in a parking lot where Leah Marlene spontaneously played long before her appearance on American Idol, the festival — organized largely by Fox and Normal Civic Arts Specialist Morgan Schulte — has grown to a two-day affair that features dozens of acts across multiple stage.
This year, some 50 shows were booked, including nationally touring act SUPERSUCKERS.
The best way to experience music is, of course, to listen to it. If you missed this year's festival, you can listen or watch a recap below:
