Duluth Homegrown Music Festival puts local acts in the spotlight

Charlie Parr
Charlie Parr performed with the Black Eyed Snakes in front of a packed house at the 2014 Duluth Homegrown Music Festival.
Derek Montgomery for MPR News

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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