Revelry, a new music festival that UW students are organizing for May 4, announced its lineup yesterday. The student-oriented event will begin at 11 a.m. at Engineering Mall and Union South Plaza, far from the Mifflin Street Block Party, which has drawn criticism from the mayor and the university after two stabbings and multiple injuries in 2011.
Both beer and police will be present at both events, but Revelry aims to provide more structure than chaos. Its organizers hope to draw a large crowd with a dozen performers on two stages, including headliner Hoodie Allen, a 24-year-old who launched his rap career while working at Google.
Other national acts on the roster are chillwave artist Toro Y Moi, Danish electropop singer Oh Land, rock 'n' rollers Delta Spirit, hip-hop purveyor Chance the Rapper and indie rockers the Mowgli's. Local artists and DJs will round out the bill. These performers include folk-pop band PHOX and experimental multi-instrumentalist Julian Lynch, as well as Rage Life, CRASHprez, Lord of the Fly, the Al Gore Rhythm Method, DJ RED SPEXXX, DJ Deliboy, Soundkill3r and Toer.
The organizers pulled together the lineup in less than four months, an impressive feat considering that many festivals of this size take nearly a year to plan.
"We have a pool of quality, nationally touring talent spanning several music genres that I think UW-Madison is going to really enjoy," Sarah Mathews, chair of Revelry's executive committee, said in a news release.
Tickets will go on sale on April 8 and can be purchased at revelry.is, and more information can be found at the Revelry Blog, and ongoing updates will be provided via the fest's Facebook and Twitter accounts.
