Planning for the 50th Anniversary of the Smoky Hill River Festival is already underway! Have you ever thought about performing on stage? Know of a band that would be a great fit for the lineup?

The entertainment at the Festival is selected through a combination of community, committee, and staff effort. Nominations or applications often come from the community and committee, with feedback from committees and staff helping to produce the final lineup. Selections begin as early as August and continue over the course of several months.

Our goals for curating the lineup tie back to the Festival mission, which is to connect people through an arts experience celebrating the creative spirit. This usually results in an eclectic mix of familiar genres and new programming. What acts can we bring in that will resonate with the experiences of our audience, and what might be something new from their day-to-day routine that connects artists and fans in a different way? Attendees may see a bluegrass group, followed by an alt-rock band, followed by a jazz combo, ending with a band playing ranchera music. We hope the mix helps everyone feel involved, engaged, and connected with the music of the bands in the lineup.

We work to balance bringing in acts from around the country along with supporting local talent and opportunities. Many of our acts play multiple days of the Festival, allowing fans more chances to see their performances. A majority of the acts are performing original music or unique covers. Fans also get more chances to meet performers and build a connection throughout the weekend, whether it's at the merch table or in line for the food truck. 

One of my favorite things as an entertainment coordinator is getting to work with artists for multiple sets or even multiple years. The beauty of live performance is that no set is the same. The atmosphere, stage setting, group of audience members, and mind of the performers create the conditions for an experience that will only ever happen once. It speaks well of the community that many performers visiting over the weekend embrace the creative spirit wholeheartedly, resulting in spontaneous collaborations, debuts of songs, and pop-up performances throughout the weekend as well.

Performers can submit their information through the application on the Smoky Hill River Festival website. Community members can share ideas on bands or express their interest in joining the programming committee by reaching out to sah@salina.org.