Iowa's Hinterland Music Festival is expanding to three days in 2019

Matthew Leimkuehler | The Des Moines Register

Strike a celebratory chord, music fans — one of Iowa's favorite festivals is set to expand in 2019.

Hinterland Music Festival returns Aug. 2-4 to the Avenue of the Saints Amphitheater in St. Charles, adding a third day of music, camping and summer jubilation to the annual Madison County event.

Information on the festival lineup, ticket packages and camping is slated to be announced in early 2019.

Entering a fifth year, the festival has earned acclaim for curating lineups highlighting top acts in roots, Americana and indie rock. Past performers include Sturgill Simpson, Willie Nelson, CHVRCHES, Brandi Carlile, Ryan Adams and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.

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Taking place roughly 30 miles south of Des Moines, a two-night Hinterland draws about 20,000 combined festivalgoers.

Festival organizer Sam Summer said he received an onslaught of requests for artists to play Hinterland in 2019 — enough viable options to justify adding another day. The festival plans to grow from 12 acts to about 20, with the Sunday (Aug. 4) headliner taking the stage at 8:30 p.m., an hour earlier than Friday and Saturday night.

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“There was one artist I really wanted bring back and the only way I could do that was add a third day,” said festival organizer Sam Summers. “I felt like our fifth year was a good time to add that third day in to accommodate the demand for artists to play it.”

Hinterland drew a festival record 11,300 paid attendees on day two in 2018 — not including staff, vendors and children age 12 and under, who earn free entry. Festival organizers saw roughly 9,500 paid attendees on day two in 2017, per Register archives.

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With Hinterland’s continued growth, Summers feels a capacity crowd of roughly 14,000 isn’t too far out of reach. Festivalgoers traveled from 42 states and three countries to spend the weekend at Hinterland in 2018; an estimated 7,000 camped in fields near the festival grounds.

“When we’re seeing those kind of numbers, people are really making a weekend out of this,” Summer said.

It’s an addition music fans can celebrate — but one that may not be permanent.

On if attendees can expect a third day in the years to come, Summers said: “We wanna do everything the best that we can. I’d like to dip my toe in first and see how it goes.”

Find more information at hinterlandiowa.com.