Organizers of the first annual Arcade Music Festival say the fest is a “big missing piece in Cincinnati’s culture and history.”
Co-organizer Jared Metz told LINK nky that the upcoming event was partly inspired by MidPoint Music Festival, which ran in Cincinnati’s Over-The-Rhine neighborhood from 2002 to 2017, and “we’re trying to revitalize it in Covington.”
On August 8 and 9, eight stages will be set up at various venues along Madison Avenue, Pike and Washington Streets, each with its own unique vibe and genre.
The upcoming festival’s name comes from the Pike Street ‘Arcade’ tunnel, which runs between Pike and West 7th Streets, situated between Klingenberg’s Hardware and Hierophany & Hedge.
While the tunnel is empty, and as far as Metz and his co-organizer, Emma Ranney, can figure out, it has never been what we would consider an “arcade,” it does have a sign above it on both sides that says “Arcade.” Hence, the festival’s name.
“That inspired the branding of the eight-bit retro video game style,” said Metz.
The tunnel is an important part of the festival because it’s where the main stage will be situated. Being the main focal point of the festival, Metz and Ranney are working to make sure that it’s decked out to the nines.
The duo has tapped Covington-based fiber artist Daniel Shields, known locally for his work during BLINK, to decorate the tunnel. Shields has a lot of plans for the space, including reflective material designed originally by NASA to create reflections on the ceiling and more. “We can’t wait to see his vision,” said Metz.
Metz and Ranney told LINK that this festival was sort of kismet. They had both separately had an idea for this kind of festival and came together to get the event started.
“When we started, it was like, just an idea,” said Metz.
“Yeah, we kinda just signed an LLC and went from there,” said Ranney.
And it has happened quickly. The two created their LLC in April of this year, giving them just five months to put it together.
By May 15, half of the lineup was officially announced, and when LINK spoke with the two, they were finalizing all their contracts with their lawyer.
The festival has a lineup of over 50 artists and eight stages. The tunnel will serve as the main, and then seven local bars and venues will have stages, including: Second Story, Revival Vintage Spirits, Olde Town Tavern, Ripple Wine Bar (Street Stage), Madison Live, West 6th Brewery and Galaxie.
Dozens of vendors will also span four blocks of Covington’s Madison Avenue bar district.
As far as genre goes, “we’re trying to get every genre possible,” said Metz. Each venue will have their own genre, for example, Metz said Revival will have mostly folk/Americana acts, Old Town Tavern is the punk venue, Madison Live will have rap, Galaxy will be EDM and Second Story will have more pop acts.
Many of the artists will be local, headliners and more artists are set to be announced on July 3.
The festival is mostly free, with the only ticketed area being the main stage tunnel, meaning Metz and Ranney have had to raise a lot of money on their own.
While Metz has worked on the vibe and the vision, Ranney has been working on securing funding.
“I have reached out to anyone and everyone,” said Ranney. “I’ve done so much research into every single national and regional company, nonprofit, brand, that has ever had any history of interest in sponsoring, and I found their contact information.”
They have secured sponsorships from MeetNKY, The Ion Center (formerly Women’s Crisis Center) and Tierra Y Libertad Tequila, and hope to get a few more.
From the moment they launched their website and social media, Metz said the community has greatly supported them. “Being able to do this is so cool, and we have all this community backing. It’s great.”
Arcade Music Festival is set for August 8 and 9. Find more information about tickets and lineups at arcademusicfest.com.