Mile 5 Draws Record Attendance

Mile of Music, presented by Tundraland, returned to Downtown Appleton for it’s milestone fifth year August 3-6, 2017 and festival organizers are saying this may have been the best Mile experience yet.

Early estimates put attendance at more than 70,000 visitors over the course of the four-day event with an economic impact of $3 million-plus. This record-high number of attendees is the result of 925 live music sets featured in 70 indoor and outdoor venues spread across the Downtown’s walkable one-mile stretch.

“From the start, a big part of the festival draw has been the chance for music-lovers to come and sample new sounds and discover new artists,” said Dave Willems, Mile of Music creator, director and co-founder. “As Appleton continues to establish itself as a destination for music, the draw has also extended to exploring such a historic downtown that is home to so many unique and inviting venues.”

Organizers introduced Washington Square to the list of host locations this year since the festival’s largest outdoor venue – Jones Park – was out of commission due to ongoing construction of the Downtown’s new Fox Cities Exhibition Center. The sizeable greenspace at the Square proved to be a popular stop for visitors as shows put on by artists like Wild Adriatic and Mo Lowda & The Humble quickly attracted full crowds.

The nearby OuterEdge Stage – just two blocks away – was also used in conjunction with Washington Square after recent renovations allowed the indoor venue to increase its capacity.

“The majority of Mile shows have always been held indoors, but we wanted to be sure there were still enough options for people to enjoy that outdoor summer music vibe,” Willems said. “Washington Square turned out to be a great addition to the mix of other outdoor spaces.”

The festival continues to be one of the largest free music events hosted in the United States that exclusively showcases original music. This year, it welcomed 250 artists to Appleton with a combination of first-time and returning as well as local and international acts, with nearly all shows being non-ticketed with no charge to attend.

Featuring up-and-coming and emerging artists, The Mile’s talent organizers filled the schedule with performers from 30 states, and three touring acts from Canada appeared, including Terra Lightfoot, Fast Romantics and Cat Clyde.

“We feel it’s important to keep a balance of both local and visiting artists,” Willems explained. “The festival rotates in a lot of new names each year, but also welcomes back favorites who have developed a strong rapport and fan following here.”

Of the 250 artists, slightly more than half were returnees. Willems said many of these artists now work their tour schedules around being able to play at The Mile and consider Appleton as a “home away from home.”

San Francisco-based performer Megan Slankard shared, “I haven’t been a part of something that has left me feeling so full, inspired and loved in a long time. This experience fills me up every year – recharged so I can keep going.”

The fact that so many artists want to return is due, in large part, to the Artist Care program and other hospitality efforts festival organizers put in place with help from a generous group of 100-plus sponsors.

This year’s Artist Care offered complimentary services like $50,000 worth of dental care from Romenesko Family Dental as well as 70 hearing screenings from About Better Care Audiology. The program also delivered optical exams, massage therapy, physical therapy and photo shoots to artists.

Additionally, Mile 5 featured a hospitality program that focused on food and lodging needs. It was designed to match artists with the appropriate overnight accommodations or host families. The program was also set up to provide food options ranging from beverages/meals at the festival headquarters to gift certificates from designated Restaurant/Pub Artist Supporters at several venues.

“I have had the opportunity to perform at many festivals around the country, but Mile is hands-down my favorite so far,” Slankard said.

“You treat us like rock stars: we’re paid, we’re fed, we’re housed and we’re given access to helpful resources and opportunities that normally cost us hundreds of hard-earned dollars.”

Eric Cox and Tom Abromaitis of Sheboygan’s The Belle Weather took to Facebook to say, “We came to Mile of Music with sky-high expectations, and everywhere we turned we found something that surpassed anything we could have imagined.” The duo added, “Mile takes care of its artists!”

In its four-day run, Mile of Music was greeted with some unpredictable Wisconsin weather. Festival organizers were prepared with back-up plans when rain affected outdoor shows and quickly responded by making the necessary adjustments. Schedule and venue updates were communicated through social media. They were also shared through the Mile website (Stellar Blue) and app (Skyline Technologies) thanks to such user-friendly channels developed by the festival’s technology partners.

With this proactive planning and a roster of 425 flexible volunteers who were shifted as needed, there were only a handful of shows out of the 925 that didn’t get re-scheduled.

Willems shared, “In a festival of this size, the fact that nearly all shows went on without a hitch is a pretty huge accomplishment. The entire team of staff, artists, volunteers and venues gets the kudos for that.”

As with past years, Mile 5 was about giving the community opportunities to get in on the music-making. The Music Education Team, headed up by the talented staff at Lawrence University, organized 60 education events that ranged from instrument and dance workshops to jam sessions and sing-alongs. Mile 5 artists joined in on the instruction with sessions like Hip Hop with Corey Torres and Songwriters Workshop with Stephanie Erin Brill.

Participants of all ages were able to experience music of many styles and cultures, including Afro-Cuban, Ghanaian, Brazilian, Hmong and Mariachi.

Teachers from the Appleton Area School District were invited to participate in these Music Education events and they logged over 220 collective hours of professional development at the workshops.

“From what I saw and experienced, it was one of the best years for our team in terms of great teaching, attendee engagement, active collaboration and a continued commitment to including music and artists which more accurately represent the kind of music being made here in the Fox Cities,” said Leila Ramagopal Pertl, music education curator for The Mile.

Also offering a music-making opportunity and supporting music education, Tundraland – the festival’s presenting partner for the third consecutive year – brought back its popular “Singing in the Shower” challenge to benefit youth music scholarships.

Since the goal of having at least 250 participants share a song inside the shower stationed at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel was met, Tundraland will again award an area student with a one-year scholarship for music lessons through Heid Music. Willems said Tundraland has been integral to Mile of Music’s success with all of the support owner Brian Gottlieb and his team have shown for integrating music into the community and making it accessible to everyone.

There were plenty of fun, spontaneous moments throughout the weekend as festival visitors enjoyed things like pop-up performances and live mini sets aboard the Mile of Music bus. An especially exciting moment occurred when Tyler & the Streeters performed as part of The Alley Project. Lead singer Tyler Streeter spotted a young music fan in the crowd mid-set and jumped off the stage to give him his guitar.

“With its education focus, the festival is really big on keeping music at the forefront for future generations,” Willems said. “The thought of how this one moment might play a part in shaping this boy’s musical future was pretty exciting.”

Other highlights during “Mile Week” included:

• A collaboration among Mile of Music, the Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities and Community First Credit Union to offer the “Home: Community Concert” at OuterEdge Stage with music from Jamie Kent and Ryan Hommel
• The First Songs event that gave attendees a taste of the music to come before the festival officially kicked off
• Bike to the Beat – an activity organized and produced by Fox Communities Credit Union – was held for the second year
• Feed the Body, Feed the Soul – a charitable event coordinated by festival co-founder Cory Chisel and local organization partners
• Stone Arch Brewpub brought back its signature Americana Pale Ale as the official beer of Mile 5

As the music wound down on Sunday, several of Mile 5’s standout performers gathered at Lawrence Memorial Chapel for the much-anticipated A Song Before We Go showcase.  An informal “thank you” event for hospitality workers was coordinated the night after the festival with a special performance from Me Like Bees – a Missouri-based band that has become a fan favorite at Mile events and drove more than 10 hours for the chance to be part of the festival.

A Mile of Music fan and attendee since the very first festival, Rusty Zaspel shared, “Thank you for continuing to evolve this festival while also continuing to stay true to its roots. I continue to be amazed by the level of talent, the level of organization and the commitment to a quality experience for all of us.”

Festival organizers are already looking ahead to next year with Mile 6 dates announced as August 2-5, 2018.

“With five years under our belt, I think the community would agree that Mile of Music’s simple goal of just improving from year to year is working,” Willems said. “The framework we’ve built upon – with the artists, venues, festival organizers, sound crew, sponsors and volunteers – has been that just-right combination and key to the festival’s growing success.”

ABOUT MILE OF MUSIC

Mile of Music is an artisan, all-original music festival that launched in August 2013 as a creative economy driver in Downtown Appleton, Wisconsin. Today, Mile of Music and its programming arm, Mile Productions, provide year-round original music events for the Greater Appleton and Fox Cities community. The four-day festival, itself, is held the first full weekend in August with the support of more than 100 community sponsors and 400 volunteers, featuring nearly 1,000 live music sets from 250 artists at 70 venues along the one-mile, walkable stretch of College Avenue and the nearby riverfront. Other original music events now include the Concerts in The Courtyard weekly series, the Rhythms & Brews weekly series and New Year’s Encore Eve, among others.