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June 30, 2016 FREE
Middle Waves is rolling in with big goals Region is turning the tides with a destination music festival downtown By Whitney Wright wwright@kpcmedia.com
COURTESY PHOTO
Middle Waves committee members stand outside the Brass Rail in downtown Fort Wayne in front of a wheat paste mural of the festival logo. Pictured, from left to right, are: Christine Taylor, Olivia Fabian, Matt Kelley, Katy Silliman, Emma McCarron and Matt Thomas.
Camaraderie vs. competition Restaurants work together to attract business to downtown dining district By Lucretia Cardenas lcardenas@kpcmedia.com
PHOTO BY AIMEE AMBROSE
The Golden opened in the Ash Skiline building in June.
under renovation in nearby neighborhoods such as West Central. They see opportunity – but not necessarily competition.
See DINING, Page A16
3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808
Times Community Publications/INfortwayne.com
Late on a Saturday evening, you may find staff from the newly opened The Golden joking and sharing stories with the staff of Wine Down while sipping a twist on a classic cocktail. The two dining establishments opened within about a year of each other in downtown Fort Wayne. They and others - such as the modern gastropub Hoppy Gnome and the city’s first farm-to-fork restaurant Tolon – are seeing the city residential developments in the works and the houses
Camaraderie is developing among the restaurant owners in downtown – between the newbies and the longtime establishments. The thinking is that any business that attracts people to visit the downtown is good business for a restaurant, event if that business is another restaurant. “I’ve been in the restaurant business a number of years, and my experience is that, as long as you’re good, whenever you get a new restaurant in town, you may slow down at first, but you are usually
Middle Waves is bringing national and local music, food, vendors, beverages, art, river activities and more to Fort Wayne as the area’s first destination music festival. Several community leaders felt the area buzzing with an energy capable of more than new restaurants, apartments and sporting events and began developing ideas to take the area to the next level. The accumulation of their ideas and efforts is Middle Waves, an indie, rock ’n’ roll and hip-hop music festival scheduled for Sept. 16-17 at Headwaters Park in downtown Fort Wayne. Middle Waves took root in 2014, when Greater
Fort Wayne Inc. took its annual “inter-community visit” to Des Moines, Iowa. Community leaders in Des Moines harnessed an energy in its city to develop the 80/35 Music Festival in 2007, said Matt Kelley, Middle Waves co-chair and owner of One Lucky Guitar. “80/35 Music Festival in Des Moines is cited as the event in which everyone woke up the next day and felt differently about their community – they felt like they had finally ‘arrived,’” said Alison Gerardot, one of the Middle Waves co-chairs and director of programming and events at Riverfront Fort Wayne. After visiting Des Moines and discussing possibilities for Fort Wayne, community leaders flew Amadeo
Rossi, director of 80/35, into Fort Wayne to discuss how the area might create a successful music festival like Des Moines’. Meeting with Rossi provided insights into the process of creating a successful music festival and gave community members confidence in what they were trying to accomplish, Gerardot said. Sweetwater and Parkview’s commitments as title and main stage sponsors, respectively, sealed the deal and festival planning and development was on its way. Middle Waves’ name was chosen from among many suggestions. “We like that it references our rivers, our downtown and our pride See WAVES, Page A17