MANSFIELD — The seventh Mansfield Music Festival will prove to be the start of something great, according to event organizer Austin Moore.
The first show, in 2009 took place in a musician’s basement as a way for participating bands to earn money. The festival continued on and off until Moore asked if he could take the reigns.
The shows took place at different bars across Mansfield. This year, the music festival will be at Snow Trails, 3100 Possum Run Rd.
“I’d been kind of wanting to take it to the next level a little bit,” Moore said. “Not make it so big that it’s out of my league, but (show signs of growth). We’re doing it in the lodge, so there’s no potential of there being thousands of people.
“It’s a bit of a trial run, to see how it goes in a bigger setting.”
Moore said the history of the event has earned the Mansfield Music Festival some notoriety.
The festival will run Aug. 24 and 25 with doors opening around 7:30 p.m.
“It used to be more heavy music,” he said. “But now, I think it’s more well-rounded. The first night there’s plenty of different types of music.”
Moore cited 27 bands listed on the banner to play the two-night show. Genres will include punk-rock, hard-rock, pop music, hip-hop, rap, alternative rock. Nearly all the bands are local acts.
“It really hits the whole spectrum,” he said. “My idea of it is you get exposed to bands you wouldn’t maybe go see. Maybe you’re into punk-rock so you wouldn’t normally go to a hip-hop show or an acoustic show, but you’re going to get exposed to it if you stay for the whole thing.
“You’ll get to see how good these other bands are and maybe you’ll start following them.”
Tickets will be available at the door, Moore said. Food will be provided by Truckin Trav Street Food and Slab Daddy’s BBQ.
“I’ve been talking to a couple bands,” said Braxton Daniels, owner and founder of local promotion company, Studio 45 Media. “This is the biggest event they’ve played at (to date) — probably one of the larger venues and crowds.
“I think this is going to be a great time. Full bar open, food trucks — I just contacted an ice cream truck to come through one of the days. It’s just to celebrate the summer coming to the end. Kids are going back to class. Come out and enjoy literally the last month of summer and look forward to the next year.”
