Duluth Homegrown Music Festival puts local acts in the spotlight
The 17th annual Duluth Homegrown Music Festival begins Sunday. The event showcases 200 bands from the Duluth-Superior area, from relative unknowns to well-known favorites like Trampled by Turtles and Charlie Parr.
"A lot of people in Duluth have really prideful feelings about where they live," said festival director Walt Dizzo. "And I think they all enjoy the aspect that we're completely local."
The festival began in 1999 with only ten bands. This year the line-up includes classical music for the first time, including a performance by the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. All bands in the festival will be performing original music.
"We're in our 17th year, which is amazing for a festival of this magnitude to not lose steam as we go along," said Dizzo.
The festivities will kick off with a mayoral proclamation from Duluth mayor Don Ness, who is also a former director of the festival.
Dizzo expects up to five thousand people to attend shows during the festival. It runs from April 26 to May 3.
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