Groovefest American Music Festival

The 7th annual Groovefest American Music Festival is Cedar City -s only all music festival and is now bigger and better than ever! This year-s family-oriented event runs from June 26 through June 29 at the Cedar City Main Street Park and other venues in historic downtown. Since 2002, Groovefest has grown from its humble beginnings as a small handful of music lovers gathered for a few hours to hear music in a back parking lot, to a major four-day festival event with over 30,000 in attendance. Festival-goers come to Cedar City from all over the United States to hear and see performers from all over the world. The Groovefest crew and volunteers will transform the park into a full-fledged celebration of outdoor music and fun. Vendor booths selling food, art and gifts will be set-up as well as a kid-s corner of inflatable rides. Two stages will host over fourteen national touring acts and several local musicians for two days of music beginning at 11:15 AM and continuing until 11:00 PM both Friday and Saturday. A Thursday ?Pre-Groove Show? kick-off held at the Grind Coffee House was added in 2007 and featured one performance; this year there will be two, one at 7:30 PM with Nowhere Man & A Whiskey Girl (Willcox, Arizona), the other at 8:30 PM with John Boy-s Mule (Park City, Utah). Both groups will perform again Friday at the main stage in the park. The Friday, June 27th performances at the main stage in the park will include the two acts mentioned above plus Breanna Paletta (Portland, Oregon), Pert- Near Sandstone (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Moses Guest (Houston, Texas), Todd Wolfe (Easton, Pennsylvania) and Wisebird (Salt Lake City, Utah). The action continues Saturday, June 28th with Mud (Cedar City, Utah), Chris Proctor (from Salt Lake City, Utah), Woodbox Gang (Makanda, Illinois), The Stolen Sweets (Portland, Oregon), Dikki Du & The Zydeco Krewe (Lawtell, Louisiana), Wayne ?The Train? Hancock (Austin, Texas) and Chicago Afrobeat Project (Chicago, Illinois). Announcements, sponsor recognition and performances from local musicians will take place between the main acts on both days. During the festival there will also be guitar, banjo, percussion and gypsy style jazz music workshops held at The Grind Coffee House from the professional musicians performing at this year-s festival. The workshops were added four years ago as part of the goal of Groovefest to teach, inform and entertain. There is a small fee to attend the workshops. Sign-up sheets are available at The Grind, Groovacious, Braun Books, Whittlesticks and Cedar Music & Studio. The newest addition this year is the Human Right Awareness Tour which will put Groovefest on the map and reach a broader, more diverse audience of festival goers and attendees who are concerned with human and social issues that affect each of us. This presence will also help to shape Groovefest for consecutive years concerning important causes and charitable possibilities. Equally important is the idea of connecting with a world-wide audience that could not have been done otherwise and bring positive recognition to Cedar City as a place of generosity and a welcoming place to for a music festival. The free activities from the Human Rights Awareness Tour will include two showings of films at The Grind before the workshops on Friday and Saturday. There will be speakers each day at the main stage and a ?No Sweat Shop? Fashion Show Friday evening at the park involving professional models and an open invitation for models from the audience. They will model clothing manufactured in a non-sweat shop environment. The organization will have clothing and artwork available at the festival. Three years ago the ?After Hours? shows were added to Groovefest and they were a huge hit as many festival goers wanted the music to continue all night. This year Groovefest has added an additional ?After Hours? show on Saturday night at the Grind Coffee House with The Stolen Sweets along with the traditional Friday night show from Pert- Near Sandstone and Saturday night show of Dikki Du & The Zydeco Krewe both held at Mike-s Tavern. There is a small fee for these performances. What has become a favored tradition at Groovefest and an appropriate send-off three years running is the well received ?Groovefest Gospel Hour? held Sunday morning at the Grind Coffee House. This year-s performance June 29th at 11:00 AM will be with Woodbox Gang. Not strictly a gospel show, but meant to be an intimate gathering in a calmer setting to hear traditional gospel themed acoustic music which is infused in most bluegrass and country style music we know and love. Surprises are expected. This year the Groovefest American Music Festival will prove to be the best yet with multiple additions to the already proven traditional events that have made Groovefest an anticipated and exceptional family and community event. At Groovefest experience top-knotch high caliber entertainment covering a vast array of styles and genres, truly a unique event that cannot be matched anywhere else. Attendees are sure to learn something new and different. Groovefest is a fabulous venue for musicians from all origins and walks of life to visit our beautiful little city nestled in the sandstone mountains who then take our welcoming spirit with them to friends and musical acquaintances and ultimately the world.