An All Local Music Festival Is Changing The Way Sacramento Supports Local Music

An all local music festival out of Sacramento, CA emerged in 2015 to engage the community in supporting local music and arts with more than just lip service. By 2017 the music festival overcame a bad year, launched a music and arts app, opened a small music venue in the heart of Downtown, and just announced headliners for the 2018 festival that are impressing not just the local music scene, but the community as a whole.

The Little Festival That Could

Shelli Sherwood Photography

No funding? No problem.

Aaron Stewart

First Festival created a sustainable model from day one. Only spend what you can bring in. The entire festival was funded by ticket sales and vendor booths. All the bands were paid the day of by what was generated at the beer stands. I mean, people LOVE them some beer at a festival!

3 Stages. 1 Day. 18 Bands.

Aaron Stewart

The first year featured 3 stages for an entire day of music with a wide variety of genres and musical styles. Year one was like cracking Pandora's Box so to speak. Sacramento is a thriving hub of music that span the genres. And most of them aren't just good-- they're amazing.

A New Year. A New Lesson.

Jason Knight

First Festival expanded to 2 days in 2016 and brought in 43 bands over 3 stages. Bigger stages, more vendors, more music, but one BIG problem. Nobody showed up. Well, some people did. But not many. It was time to re-evaluate.

Step One: Engage.

#showupsacramento / Via showupsacramento.com

Immediately after First Festival 2016, #showupsacramento was launched-- an online music calendar that listed local music shows around the region. There needed to be a way to get Sacramento excited about local music all year around if they were going to show up to an all local music festival once a year.

#showupsacramento grew over the following year and in mid-2017, an app was launched that featured the calendar, a show submission form, the addition of an arts and comedy calendar, a social media network, and a local music playlist

A Comeback Worth Noting

Risa Knight

It was going to take more than one year of bad attendance to get rid of First Festival. Amidst the #showupsacramento launch, they went to work on engaging the community and making sure that the 2017 First Festival would be attended and prove that it would be sustainable in years to come.

2017 was the most diverse year yet and for the first time sought out headliners that were announced during a Launch Party in December 2016. Notable headliners included Oleander and Arden Park Roots.

In 2017 nearly 4,000 attended First Festival and it was official: FIRST FEST WAS BACK.

Headquarters? How About A Venue Instead.

In late 2017 First Festival knew it was time to make some space for the future, so instead of opening a boring headquarters, they opened a small, RSVP only music venue called The Lounge. The space features a backdrop that hung on the main stage in 2017, large framed posters of years 1-3, noteworthy articles about the event and a custom mock-tail menu that has gained popularity.

We Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends

First Festival / Via firstfestsac.com

In late 2017, The City of Sacramento awarded First Festival a $25,000 grant toward the production of the 2018 festival with the hopes that First Fest could become a flagship festival for the region. An all local music festival vying for the spot as a flagship festival for the region? If that's not an underdog story, then we don't know what is!

Toward 2018:

2018 looks bright with the current release of the 2018 First Fest headliners. Look forward to Sacramento bred talent like Blackalicious, A Lot Like Birds, Butterscotch, Dog Party, Jonah Matranga, and So Much Light closing out the festival. And, don't forget to Show Up, Sacramento. First Fest is counting on you.