CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A biennial guitar festival is kicking off at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday.
ELLNORA: The Guitar Festival is celebrating 20 years this year. This will be the 11th year of the biennial festival and organizers said attendees can expect all kinds of music to be played at the event.
On Thursday, there will be four free shows, featuring a blues and funk guitarist, jazz, a drag tribute to the Grateful Dead and more. The festival also includes multiple featured performances, including:
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Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash
Guitarist and lead singer for the band Wilco Jeff Tweedy
ADVERTISEMENTBlues artist Samantha Fish
Blues, rock and soul artist Gary Clark Jr.
Flamenco guitarist and composer Daniel Casares
Strings for Peace, with Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin
Indian classical musician Amjad Ali Khan
You can find tickets for the ELLNORA events and performances here.
Organizers said one thing that makes the event so unique is that attendees can go from one performer to the next.
“We have an amphitheater outdoors that we’ll use tonight for Bertha. Which is a Grateful Dead drag show. It’s just gonna be phenomenal. Stage 5 is behind me, which a lot of people recognize, and we use throughout the year for lobby events and live music. Stage 6 is another big stage in our lobby… [Thursday night] those three stages will be in action,” said Community Engagement Director Emily Laugesen.
You can find out more about the event on Krannert’s website.
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