Wichita will see the return of Elsewhere Festival from last year, this time with a name change: Somewhere Festival.
Organizers say the name change comes from the idea of making Wichita “somewhere” musicians can think of to explore their creative freedom.
“‘Elsewhere’ is this abstract idea, you know, that can be accessed anywhere,” said Jessie Hartke, co-founder of Midtopia, which helps organize the festival. “... We're doubling down. It's not just anywhere; we are somewhere.”
Somewhere Festival, like Elsewhere Festival, will offer an array of activities and events centered on art and music. There will be live performances from nationally known artists, as well as local musicians.
Chase Koch is the founder of Movement Musick, which will help organize the two-day event. He says, unlike other festivals, Somewhere Festival blends different types of music.
“I think we learned a lot last year in terms of bringing all these different genre types, genres of music together,” Koch said. “... So, to go from everything from electronic to hip-hop to R&B and everything in between, we really feel like we've got a nice blend of known artists, local artists, but also up and coming.”
Whereas last year’s festival was spread out around downtown Wichita’s core, this year’s will be operating in a smaller area.
“We are shrinking the footprint,” Hartke said. “We’ll still be able to accommodate the same number of people, but … we’re doing the layout in a way that is more intimate.
“It’s another element in how we’re leaning into the idea of community, right? We’re building our own little village for two days.”
The festival will also have a conference portion that gathers artists and industry professionals. This will include a conversation with American singer and rapper Aloe Blacc, who is well known for his feature on “Wake Me Up” by Avicii.
“It is geared towards workers and artists in the music industry, but also social change entrepreneurs and a lot of different, just really brilliant people featured on panels,” said Adam Hartke, co-founder of Midtopia. “I think highlighting that as a place where ideas can be shared, and again, to build that community.”
Somewhere Festival will also partner with entities such as The Phoenix and 1 Million Strong to foster conversations and safe spaces around topics such as addiction recovery.
Koch emphasized that the variety in the festival and conference is about bringing people together.
“Last year was the first year; people didn't really know much about it,” Koch said. “We ran this experiment, and then people in all these kind of various communities are like, ‘That was really cool.’
“To see these communities come together in a way that they otherwise wouldn't into kind of one unified Wichita — that’s the vision of what we’re going for.”
The two-day festival will be in downtown Wichita on June 13 and 14. Organizers stressed that families and children are encouraged to attend.
Tickets for the festival and its accompanying conference go on sale on Friday. More information about it is at somewhere-fest.com.
Artists scheduled to perform at Somewhere Festival
- Suki Waterhouse
- Deadmau5
- Flying Lotus
- BigXthaPlug
- Aloe Blacc
- Cassian
- Elise Trouw
- EMBRZ
- La Luz
- Lyrics Born
- Jerro
- Kim Gordon
- Tinlicker
- CHEW
- Chris Luno
- Die Spitz
- Martin Luther
- Morpho
- Talia Keys
- Tommy Newport
- The Whips
- XV
- 2ŁØT
- Estrogen Projection
- Grimelda
- Jesus Christ Taxi Driver
- Marcey Yates
- Rudy Love & The Encore
- Social Cinema
- Uh Oh
- Yae
- Bad Self Portraits
- The Crooked Rugs
- DJ Sunshine
- Friendly Thieves
- Fox Royale
- Gramma
- Horsebitch
- The Magpies
- Monnie
- Oxford Remedy
- Paris Jane
- Paris Williams
- Pump Action
- Trusko
