visit the OFFICIAL website: HTTP://WWW.FORECASTLEFEST.COM
THE
FORECASTLE FESTIVAL
What is Forecastle?
The Forecastle Festival is a scenic, outdoor experience in
Louisville, KY, which is based upon a three-part format: Music.Art.Activism.
Combining the hardest working Midwest bands, legions of experimental artists,
and multitudes of progressive environmental organizations ~ Forecastle has
established itself as one of the top drawing regional summer festivals, a unique
concept unlike any other in the country.
What is the goal of Forecastle?
While remaining grounded in environmental activism, the goal of Forecastle is to build itself into a major national festival. While similar in comparison to California's music/art, desert phenomenon Coachella, Forecastle goes a step further by offering activists equal representation. The result is three cultural mediums ~ music.art.activism ~ showcased equally in a scenic, outdoor environment. This year boasts the highest number of musicians, artists, and activists in the festival's 4-year history, and will be the first year organizers will be hosting a national musical act, putting it in sync with other major festivals, and building momentum for 2006.
What inspires Forecastle?
Giving back, a sense
of purpose, will, dedication and duty. There’s many answers, but predominantly,
it has to do with a great deal of young people who have given themselves to this
noble cause, and seek only to better the world through independent music,
experimental artists, and a progressive environmental agenda
The history of Forecastle
The first "Forecastle" was held July 20th, 2002, in Louisville, KY. Located in one of the most scenic areas in the heart of the city, the 15-acre, Olmstead-designed (Central Park / NYC) Tyler Park proved the perfect foundation for the early years. Although it would soon become much more, the original concept was simply a free, outdoor, summer festival, designed to celebrate the comradery of the Louisville music community. With everything donated and all the bands performing for free, the festival cost less than $500 to produce and went off without a hitch - nearly a hundred and fifty people showed up to see live performances by local favorites The Vixen Red, Fire The Saddle, Blue Goat War, and several others. The vibe was progressive and positive, and encouraged festival founder JK McKnight to carry it on the following year.
Going back to the drawing table in 2003, I invited my friends in the art community to join me in making the event a more inclusive presentation, a more distinct representation of Louisville Music & Arts. Mike Ratterman (Zephyr Gallery) headed that effort, and organized a campaign of thirty artists, who took over underneath the limestone bridge that bisects the park, to create a unique visual experience which correlated beautifully with the music. In addition to music and art, I also invited a dozen socially conscious organizations to set-up and take part in the show, all of whom embraced the opportunity. Forecastle 2003 concluded a greatly successful year, the 1st year of <Music.Art.Activism>.
Having tripled the attendance set the previous year, festival organizers worked harder in 2004 to regionalize the festival, and begin building it into a major national draw. Despite no sponsors and a budget of less than $1200, Capt. JK McKnight and his deck crew worked tirelessly to expanded the line-up: booking bands, artists, and journalists from all over the Mid-West and as far away as Boston, MA, to converge in one of Louisville's most scenic environments, for an unforgettable day of music, art, and activism. Everyone volunteered their time, and the result was Forecastle 2004: eighteen bands on two stages (labeled east/west), thirty artists connecting the stages, and twenty-four activist organizations and political campaigns, whose staff members and volunteers set-up to promote their causes and candidates, in a year that inspired the highest voter turnout since 1968. The incredible amount of local support and regional publicity 2004 generated carried over to 2005, when JK single-handedly raised over $60,000 to host his dream -> Forecastle 2005: the largest gathering of musicians, artists, and activists in the state of Kentucky, and the first festival in 10 years at Louisville's historic, 409-acre Cherokee Park. Read more here.
Highlights of Forecastle 2005:
- Performances by Touch and Go recording artists “The Shipping News.” Live performances from popular local and regional acts, including: The Merediths, Cabin, De Novo Dahl, Tristen Shields, The Spectacular Fantastic, and many more.
- A unique segue of forty visual artists centered in the middle of the festival, underneath a bridged walkway and forest canopy. The position of the art served to physically connect east and west stages, bringing the entire festival together and creating an unmatched music/art symbiosis.
- Twenty-five environmental organizations from four states showcased alongside local groups around the perimeter of the east stage.
- The addition of a Forecastle Outdoor Extreme Sports Park, consisting of rock climbing walls and a Midwest Ultimate Frisbee Tournament, highlighted by a Louisville vs. Lexington All-Star game.
- a packed, VIP Forecastle after-party downtown @ Maker’s Mark Bourbon House and 4th Street Live. Outside, the event featured live performances from Forecastle bands The October, The Spectacular Fantastic, and The Swell. Moreso, select Forecastle artists showcased live graffiti art alongside fire and ice sculptures, leading up to the red carpet entrance to Maker’s Mark Bourbon House (site of the VIP party). Over 6,000 people got to experience Forecastle music and art as they walked through 4th Street Live ~ Louisville’s premier entertainment and retail district in the heart of historic downtown Louisville.
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an attendance that tripled to
over five thousand people from the previous year. With countless volunteers and
over $60,000 in sponsorships, Forecastle 2005 was historically significant in
numerous ways: not only was Forecastle the first festival in 10 years at
Louisville’s nationally-recognized Cherokee Park, but the festival drew over
5,000 people, making it the largest event ever held (surpassing Louisville’s
1995 Derby Festival, headlined by British rockers “Bush” in 1995). The festival
was one of the top local and regional draws, outperforming better-funded events
and influencing other festivals. Intense media coverage further spotlighted the
festival in major weeklies, web blogs, and newspapers across the Midwest, and
helped raise awareness of the momentum Forecastle was generating. Two
publications who have been avid Forecastle fans include Louisville’s
Courier-Journal and LEO Weekly, who hailed Forecastle as an “an
impressive trio of cultural mediums”, “a day of solidarity and equal
expression”, and perhaps the most significant observation of what the festival
embodies - “a scene where cultures converge and where the people come
together.”
Forecastle 2006
Having outgrown the Louisville park system, Forecastle will move to back out to the water for 2006. On July 29th, 2006, The Louisville Waterfront ~ a scenic, $60 million dollar investment by the city which averages 1.5 million visitors per year ~ will host the festival in upcoming years. Expanding upon the established format with attendance goals set, Forecastle 2006 will be the largest and most comprehensive year the festival has ever seen. For the first time, organizers will be hosting dual national acts to headline both East and West Stages. Furthermore, in an effort to further establish the festival as a major regional draw, a majority of our targeted marketing and advertising campaigns will be based outside Louisville, in Midwest cities like Cincinnati, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Nashville, TN, and St. Louis, MO. With everything that’s been accomplished the past four years, the stage is set for a breakout year, a festival experience unlike any other in the Midwest. With dual national acts alongside an expanded art show, activist exhibition, and extreme sports park, attendance is likely to accelerate the exponential growth experienced in each of the previous four years.
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Contact:
JK McKnight (event organizer)
1633 Windsor
Place
Louisville, KY 40204
502.472.7555
jk@forecastlefest.com
www.jkmcknight.com
/ www.thevixenred.com
www.forecastlefestival.com