Birmingham has had a summer packed full of music festivals and events, and that wave of music is not over. The Eighth Annual Secret Stages is coming to Birmingham’s Avondale community Aug. 3-4.
The festival has always been billed as a “discovery festival” where artists from the city and region perform for audiences of music fans who may not be familiar with the music they are hearing. In essence, the festival’s aim has been to introduce fans to artists.
In the first seven years of the festival’s existence, it was held in the downtown Birmingham Loft District, but for the first time, organizers have chosen to move to a new neighborhood with new venues.
The decision to move the festival from downtown was due mostly to access to the area’s businesses and which ones wanted to participate. The Loft District has been a growing nightlife destination over the years, and Secret Stages has been a large part of that revitalization. Venues such as Rogue Tavern, Das Haus, Pale Eddie’s, Matthew’s and Urban Standard had been involved in the festival.
This year, the venues in use include Avondale Brewery, Saturn, The Hangar and 41st Street Pub.
“Over the years, the Secret Stages crew has had many discussions about the best location for the festival,” said Jon Poor, one of the founders of the festival. “We have always loved being downtown. Seeing and being a part of the growth there has been one of the more rewarding aspects of the event. That said, the changing business landscape has often presented us with challenges as far as having a consistent and viable footprint each year.”
Artists performing in this year’s festival will include a handful of acts – such as Heath Green & the Makeshifters and Will Stewart – that had been slated to play Birmingham’s Sloss Music and Arts Festival, but had their sets either cut short or canceled due to weather.
The festival kicks off Friday at 5:30 p.m. The complete schedule and ticket information can be found here.
This story originally appeared on the Patch Birmingham website.
(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.