A few semesters ago, senior Dominick Petrucci had a dilemma: there were four shows happening in Ithaca on the same night, and he and senior Nora Hernandez wanted to attend them all. The pair ended up venue hopping between three downtown venues and a house show, spending the entry fee at each door and only getting to enjoy around 15 minutes of music before speeding off to the next set.
Petrucci, who has become an integral organizer of shows in Ithaca’s music scene in the past two years, wondered if there was something that could be done to allow live music fans in Ithaca to see all of the musicians that they wanted to with no overlap.
“I mentally asked the question of ‘Is it possible for me to make a bill where we say yes to everyone,’” Petrucci said. “‘What would that look like? How can you even do something like that?’”
The answer came in the form of Ithaca DIY Fest: a brand new three-day music festival organized by Unknown Stage, Ithaca Underground, Practice At!, Fanclub Collective and the Electrozone. DIY Fest took place April 10-12 on six different stages around Ithaca: Bernie Milton Pavilion, K-House, Angry Mom Records, the Nocturnal Café, TreeHouse Studio & Lounge and a basement of a student house on Cornell University’s campus. One of the founding members of Unknown Stage, a DIY concert organization made up of Ithaca College students, Petrucci felt like he had made the connections and friends that he would need to pull off something like DIY Fest.
“This music scene is ready for this,” Petrucci said. “I wanted to be like, ‘What if we all came together and did one thing, and we didn’t limit ourselves? … What could we create together?’”
The festival lineup not only featured IC students, Cornell students and Ithaca residents, but also touring acts making their return to Ithaca. Sophomore Jake Smith, Unknown Stage organizer, said that he felt like each demographic of musician in Ithaca was well represented in the festival lineup. Each concert organization selected bands for a single stage, allowing them the opportunity to feature artists that they frequently book. Smith said that to him, the festival lineup represented every band that he knows that plays in Ithaca.
DIY Fest was larger in scale than anything Unknown Stage had organized before. Senior Sophia Spring, a key Unknown Stage organizer, said that over 100 musical acts took the stage across the three–day festival. During the week leading up to the festival, Spring admitted that she was nervous.
“I feel like I bounce heavily back and forth throughout every single hour between ‘this is the coolest thing that’s ever happened’ to ‘this is the most stressful thing that’s ever happened,’” Spring said. “And then I talk to Dom for 10 minutes, and then I’m like … whatever happens happens, and it’s just gonna be fun. And that’s all that matters, that a few people have fun.”
Petrucci said by the time progressive rock band Raindrop Collector took the stage at the Nocturnal Café on Saturday afternoon, the venue had hit its 225 person capacity. Petrucci said they sold 400 tickets to the event, but did not track exact attendance numbers venue–to–venue.
Attendees could purchase a three–day pass for $38 online or $45 at the door. There was also an option to pay a daily cover at each venue, which ranged from $15-$22. Petrucci said that all day Saturday, Angry Mom was just under capacity and K-House sold so many drinks that they had to restock their bar twice over the three days.
DIY Fest had something for every music taste: indie rock, hard rock, hip-hop, folk, punk and more. In an Instagram post to-do list, attendees were encouraged to find their new favorite band or artist. First-year student Ryan Callinan, guitar player of psychedelic rock band Gecko, said that playing their first festival within Gecko’s initial year of being a band was a surreal experience. Playing between a punk band and a noise rock band, Callinan praised the festival for bringing a diverse group of musicians together.
Alex Burns ’25, who raps under stage name AKABURNZYY, said that he was honored to be included in DIY Fest’s celebration of the music scene. As a solo performer, Burns said that it can be more difficult to feel connected to a scene that seems dominated by rock and indie bands. Burns said that an opportunity like performing at DIY Fest meant that artists he looked up to were saying they considered him part of the scene.
“I think anyone likes to feel like they’re a part of something, especially something so artistic and DIY,” Burns said. “That’s an amazing accomplishment itself … just have a bunch of people who care about the music and the scene and the community to come together. … I’m very fortunate and blessed to be a part of such a great event.”
Burns performed Saturday afternoon alongside IC’s Music Production club and Atlanta–based rapper Michael Malachi, known as Overpade. Malachi fit the “Ithaca music scene” criteria for DIY Fest after performing at Community Slope Day in May 2025. Community Slope Day was organized by students after Cornell University removed singer–songwriter Kehlani from the headlining spot at Slope Day, a yearly concert on Cornell’s campus. Malachi said that Joseph Wolff, member of Cornell–based band Good Head, connected with him at Community Slope Day. Overpade and Good Head performed together as one of the final performances of DIY Fest on April 12.
The genre of sets at each venue not only changed day–by–day but also hour–by–hour. Where a crowd swayed along to Lost Marys’ and Rebecca Porter’s folk-y songs at Angry Mom Records on Friday night, a particularly enthusiastic B.C.M.E. listener did backflips during the punk band’s Saturday afternoon performance, less than 24 hours later.
Senior George Bailey, drummer of IC band Life on Vibrant, said that DIY Fest was evidence of the ever–growing music scene in Ithaca.
“Especially with how many venues are closing as of lately around [Ithaca] it’s been so sad,” Bailey said. “So building another [festival], especially if it’s an annual thing, would be so cool. It’s so good for the music scene.”
While DIY Fest signified the birth of a new music festival in Ithaca, the weekend also had its bittersweet endings. As some bands were playing their very first festival sets, others were playing together for the last time. Bands like Beer Cat, B.C.M.E., The Brood and Bisexual Lighting closed out their time with final performances at DIY Fest. Petrucci said that bands like B.C.M.E. and Beer Cat had already decided that they were breaking up to pursue different musical projects, but were willing to do one last show together to help out the festival.
“Alex Siegelson [of Beer Cat] told me very specifically, he said … ‘Beer Cat was going to finish every single show that we promised,’” Petrucci said. “I was like, ‘What about the one that was eight months out?’ And he was like, ‘That one too.’”
On April 12, the final morning of DIY Fest, many bands that had played previous slots of the festival played acoustic sets at TreeHouse Studio & Lounge on South Cayuga Street. As morning light streamed in the windows, audience members sat on beanbag chairs and couches, close up to the performers. Each performer played covers and original songs alike. In addition to performing his own acoustic set as Tiny Bandit, senior Noah Robinson stuck around for little slicer and awdam’s acoustic sets, supporting his friends.
Robinson has been an active member of the music scene during his time as a student at IC. He played a part in planning DIY Fest during the Fall 2025 semester, but knew he would be attending the Ithaca College Los Angeles program in the Spring 2026 semester. Robinson flew across the country to see DIY Fest come to life.
“It feels like the most full circle anything could ever be,” Robinson said. “The fact that this is how [my time at IC is] ending, … it feels like a really strong way to wrap it all up.”
The final stage of DIY Fest was an unspecified basement, labeled on the official schedule as “DM for Address” in typical Ithaca house show fashion. An added note read “yes we’re serious, this is the DIY Fest after all.” Familiar to many of the college students organizing, playing, and attending the festival, the basement show felt almost like an afterparty after three days of music at the downtown venues.
Before Good Head played the final song of their collaboration set with Overpade, Nick Wilson, Cornell senior and bassist of Good Head, called Petrucci and Spring up to the front of the intimate stage to celebrate the hard work that they put into the festival.
“Everything that these two incredible people have done for DIY Fest over the past few days is such a gift,” Wilson said. “And so many other people across IC, Cornell, local folks coming together. It is an absolutely beautiful thing that we’ve built here.”
Part of the inspiration for DIY Fest came from Petrucci’s experience attending South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Petrucci said that instead of the typical music festival setup (giant field, a few stages, crowds of people milling around), SXSW made Austin the venue by holding shows across the city’s local stages. Ithaca DIY Fest lived up to this inspiration.
“It was a dream come true the whole weekend,” Petrucci said via email. “I realize in retrospect what I was trying to accomplish, I just wanted to bring SXSW closer to where I live, with a lineup of my best friends and favorite musicians. It’s surreal that so many others share the same passion for this scene, and I’m excited to see where it goes next year.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source theithacan.org ’
