Photos by Rachael Barbash
More than 70 local musical artists, 19 food trucks, 8 craft brewers and several performances, vendors, activities and food and drink options will be featured at the eighth annual Independents’ Day Festival.
The two-day event will be held from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sept. 19 and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 20 in East Franklinton at the intersection of Town St. and Lucas St.
The Independents’ Day Festival has continued to grow and expand the past few years. With support from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the two-day event will include several different types of local bands and musical artists that will play on seven stages.
Some of the musical artists include Soul Position, Spaceface, Saintseneca, roeVy and Red
Wanting Blue. The musical talent that is included in the show is selected by the Fest’s musical committee, Marketing Lieutenant Patrick Locy says.
In addition, Locy says that there will be hip-hop stage, which is new to the event.
“We truly make a really concerted effort to include bands from many genres of music,” Locy says. “People can expect to see standard rock and roll, hip-hop, some jazz and even some things (that are) a little more out there.”
The Fest this year has a more defined focus on including performances from a number of different areas, Locy says. Along with the musical performances, there will be several dance, theatrical, comedic and poetry performances as well.
“There is so much wonderful talent in Columbus,” Locy says. “We wanted to accommodate the talent Columbus has in the Fest.”
This event will also include a wide variety of vendors from the Columbus area, as the Independents’ Day Festival has partnered with leaders from local communities in an attempt to create a grand marketplace.
Some of these vendors include the Big Local Art Tent, which will sell hundreds of pieces of artwork from local artists; Flood Wall Press, a local print shop that will be highlighting printmakers locally and nationally; and many others.
Along with the food trucks and craft brewers, there will be plenty of food and drink options,
such as a coffee roast that will allow attendees to sample different types of coffee. Additionally, the Festival will have a series of events called the “Knife Fights” on Saturday, in which chefs will compete against other chefs to create dishes from random food ingredients while under a time limit.
The Fest will also include a wide variety of activities that people can participate in, such as Human Sized Foosball, the Corrugated Grand Prix, Franklinton Mini-Golf, and much more, as well as plenty of children’s activities.
In previous years, the Festival took place about a block away from the statehouse in downtown, at the intersection of Gay St. and Pearl St., Locy says. However, for the second year in a row, it will take place in East Franklinton.
For more information, visit thisisindependent.com.