WEEKENDER BLOG

The Cedar Basin Music Festival is doing it again. Since 1977, the festival, previously called the Cedar Basin Jazz Festival, has been offering a free music festival in conjunction with the Sturgis Falls Celebration. This year, the festival is June 22-24 and there will be a variety of music that will make all ages kick up their feet and dance!
 

The mission of the festival is to provide free music to the community and to support our music heritage. They do a great job of this by bringing in a variety of outstanding bands, a reflection of their recent name change to the Cedar Basin Music Festival. Dixieland Jazz has always been an important component of the festival and is part of this year's daytime schedule at the Heritage Stage in Sturgis Park and at NewAldaya, both in Cedar Falls. In the evenings, music will expand to include a wider variety of music genres. NewAldaya will primarily host bands that are Dixieland and Jazz and the music will begin there at 4:00 pm on Friday, June 22.  
 

Sturgis Park has a great layout with room for lawn chairs and blankets. And, if you are feeling in the mood, there’s room to dance. Other amenities at the park include a bike rack for bicyclers, at least eight food vendors with a variety of choices and a beer tent open all day. This year, a second beer tent will be open at night and set up closer to the stage.
 

The festival kicks off on Friday, June 22, at 5:00 pm at Sturgis Park with The Saints Dixieland Jazz followed by The Soul Searchers, Walking Dead Zepplin and Free Fallin’. On Saturday, the entertainment begins at noon with The Claim Jumpers and continues through Martin Zellar and the Hardways’ performance at 10:30 pm. On Sunday, Prairie Lakes Church will hold their service at 10:00 am in the park followed by music at noon with Crossed. The festivities wind down (or gear up, depending on how you look at it) with Kevin “BF” Burt & Big Medicine at 5:00 pm.   
 

The festival is run by volunteers and they have been preparing for this year’s festival since August of 2017, with the process of selecting bands starting last fall. Volunteers are always welcome to help out at the festival. Currently, it takes a team of more than 100 volunteers to make the festival operate smoothly. This year, volunteers can help with beer-token sales or serving beer (must be 21 years of age or older). And, there’s always a need for help setting up and tearing down. If you’re interested, contact that Cedar Falls Tourism & Visitors Bureau before June 20th at 319-268-4266.  
 

Mark your calendar for June 22-24th to enjoy an easygoing atmosphere with good food and great music!
 

To find a full schedule of bands at both stages as well as band bios and a list of vendors, visit the Cedar Basin Music Festival website HERE.  
 

Would you like to find more Things to Do, Places to Eat & Drink and Places to Stay while you’re in Cedar Falls? Visit or call the Cedar Falls Visitor Center at 800-845-1955 or at 6510 Hudson Road. The visitor center is open seven days a week.
 

We’d be happy to help!

Thanks to Megan Anderson for providing information for this blog post.

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