APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — As an Appleton music festival reaches a “mile-stone,” a nonprofit is working to ensure the event’s future.
It will be a big year for Mile of Music as it marks its 10th year in August.
The downtown Appleton music festival draws in hundreds of musicians from around the world to perform on various stages and venues over the course of four days.
To provide fundraising support and to keep the festival going each year, Appleton Community Music, Inc. (ACM) was formed.
Made up of 12 board of directors, ACM’s focuses will be on funding for artist performance fees, artist hospitality, interactive music-making experiences for the public, and supporting Mile of Music volunteers.
To kick off the ACM’s fundraising effort, the group received a $50,000 gift from the Community Foundation/David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund.
“This gift is a great launch toward our goal of covering the cost of Mile of Music festival artists in 2023,” said ACM Board President Tom Doney. “While the festival is free to attend, there are many costs to producing this one-of-a-kind music experience. ACM aims to raise just over $400,000 to support artist performance fees, artist lodging and hospitality, and music education experiences.”
Mile of Music was created in early 2013 and held its first event that summer. Since then, the event grew from 100 acts performing 220 sets of music to 200 acts performing more than 700 live music sets.
This year’s Mile of Music will be Aug. 3 through Aug. 6.
