Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, the Euphonious Music Festival is returning, with a few additions, to the Birmingham Zoo this month from June 17-19.
The event features such well-known acts as Better than Ezra and Collective Soul.
The festival — founded by Bradley Metrock of Vestavia Hills — also features talent from area communities, such as Landon Friedman, or “Pixellay,” from Mountain Brook.
And Metrock is pleased to have Euphonious back at the Zoo this year.
“The Zoo is an amazing venue for Euphonious,” he said. “With the large Henley Park Event Lawn and the multi-million-dollar renovation executed back in 2017, it’s a beautiful place and a peaceful place for an outdoor concert weekend.”
Metrock also calls nearby Mountain Brook Village “a nice backdrop for Euphonious.”
“Folks from many of the surrounding businesses attend” the festival, he says.
The 2021 festival also attracted visitors from 18 states and 4 countries, and organizers expect more this year.
This “contributes to one of the main points of Euphonious, which is to showcase the city,” Metrock said.
Pixellay will open the festival on June 17, with the Pat McGee Band to follow. Headline act Better than Ezra will close out the first night of music.
Janet Simpson of Birmingham, the local opener on June 18, will be followed by Maddie and Tae, while Colbie Caillat headlines the second night of the event.
Harry Mack will follow Venture Boi from Vestavia Hills on June 19, with headliner Collective Soul set to close out the festival.
Metrock said while the festival saw about 2,000 visitors over the course of the weekend, they’re expecting 2,000 per day this year.
“There’s a lot of excitement about it,” Metrock said.
Metrock said people are beginning to understand that Euphonious is here to stay. He hopes to continue growing the festival, which brought people from 18 different states and four different countries to Birmingham last year. The festival is Metrock’s effort to fill the void left by City Stages, the longtime Birmingham music festival Metrock and many others grew up attending.
This year’s festival, in addition to the music scene, is hosting the Euphonious Pro/Am on the campus of United Ability, the festival’s charity partner.
The pro/am is a video game tournament in which players can pay and register to battle one another in Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo Switch.
“There’s definitely an esports circuit,” Metrock said.
Players will compete for the inaugural Alabama Cup, and the event will also include food trucks, vendors and industry speakers.
The pro/am is part of what Metrock calls a “constellation of events” at Euphonious.
Tickets are available at euphonious.ai. Single-day tickets are $99, with $170 weekend passes also available.
– Jesse Chambers contributed to this report.
