Mavis Staples And Murder By Death Lead Granfalloon 2025 Lineup
(Indiana University) Granfalloon, an annual celebration of art, ideas and community inspired by Hoosier author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., returns to Bloomington this summer with an expanded schedule packed with free public programming.
The annual festival that attracts thousands of visitors to Bloomington will feature musical performances by R&B legend Mavis Staples, retro-soul trio Thee Sacred Souls, Grammy-nominated band I'm With Her and a performance kicking off a farewell tour for indie rockers Murder by Death, who formed in Bloomington in 2000. Award-winning American cartoonist and graphic novelist Lynda Barry will give the keynote.
Presented by the Indiana University Arts and Humanities Council, Granfalloon 2025 will take place April through June, with most programs occurring June 4 to 8. The events, at numerous venues on the IU campus and throughout Bloomington, will include music and theater performances, film screenings, readings, exhibitions and more. Most festival offerings, including the main stage concert on Kirkwood Avenue, will be free and open to the public.
This year's festival takes inspiration from one of Kurt Vonnegut's best-known novels, "Cat's Cradle," from which the term "Granfalloon" was coined. The festival organizers use the term -defined as a proud and meaningless collection of human beings - in the spirit in which it was written: humorously and humanistically. The festival will partner with IU Libraries, the Jacobs School of Music, the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, IU Cinema, IU Theatre and many other university partners to curate events and activities that bring the campus's expertise and resources to the public in a fun, engaging way.
Legendary R&B and gospel singer Mavis Staples will headline the main stage concert on June 7, along with contemporary retro-soul group Thee Sacred Souls and hometown heroes on their farewell tour, Murder by Death.
Barry will give the festival keynote address June 5 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Her visit is hosted in partnership with the IU Writers' Conference, for which she has been a faculty member, as part of its 85th anniversary. Complementary discussions, listening sessions and other programs that dive deeper into the works of guest artists will be announced over the coming weeks.
The festival will showcase local artists through reimagined versions of recurring programs. The Gayle Karch Cook Center for Public Arts and Humanities will host the festival's first open-call exhibition, which will show unique works created by local and regional artists in conversation with "Cat's Cradle." An exhibition themed around "Cat's Cradle" will also take place at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis.
The Community Collaboration Art Project will present a series of pop-up booths with engaging, participatory public art projects run by teaching artists. The festival will also continue its recurring music showcases with Girls Rock Bloomington and Cosmic Songwriters, the latter featuring festival-inspired songs to be written and performed by local songwriters. On the day of the main stage concert, the Bloomington Handmade Market will run its summer market featuring dozens of makers and crafters alongside the festival's community performers and arts partners.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]