Broader Variety Of Music At Musikfest

Musikfest has been a popular late summer event in the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the last 27 years. Drawing millions of people every August, it's grown into a massive festival that is fun for all ages.

That is, up until recently, when the festival took a turn for change. In current years, Musikfest has started to become more and more selective about which age groups it appeals to - and also to which certain "cliques" of society it attracts, in terms of music.

In the last four years of the festival, there have been 62 performers that played at the largest venue of the event, The RiverPlace Stage. Of those 62 performers, 20 of them alone (such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Boston, and John Fogerty) can be considered "classic rock." This number excludes another vast amount of blues, R&B, and other various artists that hit their peak of popularity at least two decades ago. In contrast, out of those 62 acts, only 14 of them have been artists that were founded after 1990, a mere 23\%. In other words, less than one in every four artists that play at Musikfest's main stage attract a generally younger crowd.

Ironically, there are tens of thousands of youthful teenagers that attend the national attraction annually. Anybody who has recently attended the function has most likely taken note of the majority of adolescents roaming popular locations such as Main Street. One may make the observation that the streets have become "cluttered" with groups of a younger generation.

However, there is a solution to a conflict such as this, and many more. By bringing in artists and bands of a larger variety of genres that are currently present each year, there is a number of inconveniences that Musikfest can eliminate. Those include:

- Less crowding, particularly of young people on main streets of the event (more will be at the concerts)
- Unhappiness of patrons who are unsatisfied with the current array of music
- A limited amount of people who actually attend the concerts.

Along with this, there are many benefits of the proposal:

- Increase in attendees
- Increase in money brought in from concerts, and possibly in general
- A renovated, well rounded festival
- Better promotion of artists from our very own Lehigh Valley
- More enjoyment among the many thousands of people who go to the event.

On Musikfest's website, they list all 14 stages and the typical genres that tend to appear at each. They include: Standard Rock, Blues, Soul, World, Celtic, Folk, Americana, Rockabilly, Latin, Pop, Country, Jazz, and Classical. If you might have noticed, there are a large portion of popular genres among younger generations that are missing. They are: Punk Rock, Rap, Alternative Rock, Hip Hop, Indie, Pop Punk, R&B, Hardcore, Metal, Reggae, Ska, and many, many more. Yes, there have been a handful of exceptions to these supposedly "excluded" genres in recent years, such as Sublime with Rome(reggae), Ludacris(rap, hip hop), and Third Eye Blind(alternative). But with the exception of a small handful of artists, it is clear that the festival has been geared towards an older generation. Since the youth amount to about half of the Musikfest population(and quite possibly more), it only makes logical sense that ArtsQuest (the organization that runs Musikfest) starts to tip the scales and make it more of an overall enjoyable experience for everyone.

So, join our petition to make Musikfest a better place. If you generally believe in creating a fun filled experience for all, please sign your name along with your e-mail and (optional) zip code below.

Thank you.