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Last updated on Monday, March 26, 2018
(BLOOMINGTON) - Indiana University is bringing in big names to help kick off their first ever summer festival, Granfalloon: A Kurt Vonnegut Convergence.
The three-day festival, taking place May 10-12, will be headlined by Grammy-nominated artist Father John Misty.
Granfalloon will include a two-day academic conference of panels and keynote speakers, concerts all over Bloomington, theatrical performances and other activities inspired by the life of Vonnegut.
"Granfalloon," a term from Vonnegut's renowned novel "Cat's Cradle," refers to a group of people brought together for a seemingly arbitrary purpose.
Spirit of '68 was tasked by IU to produce the music lineup, and they hit it out of the park with Misty and a bevy of up and coming artists.
Father John Misty, aka Josh Tillman, gained fame by drumming for the popular folk band Fleet Foxes and broke off to go solo in 2012. The move has paid off for Tillman, as he arguably has surpassed his original band's popularity. During that time, Tillman's solo career flourished while Fleet Foxes' front man went back to college at Columbia University.
Now, Tillman is expected to release his fourth LP under the Misty moniker and released the great "Mr. Tillman" as the album's first single last month.
Other great selections are Chicago rapper Noname, punk band Thee Oh Sees and the seasoned electronic act Baths.
During the festival, the Lilly Library is holding a Vonnegut Collections Exhibit.
Indiana University has connections to Vonnegut and his work going back decades. Vonnegut was a faculty member at the IU Writers' Conference in 1964. He was also presented with an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1973.
Check out the full music schedule below, tickets are available here.
Friday, May 10
Performances at Upland Brewing Company, located at 350 W. 11th St.
Saturday, May 11
Performances at The Bluebird, located at 216 N. Walnut St.
Performances at The Bishop, located at 123 S. Walnut St.
Performances at Rhino's, located at 331 S. Walnut St.
In addition to concerts, Cardinal Stage is holding a staged reading of Kurt Vonnegut's musical "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater."
Performances will be at the Ivy Tech Waldron Arts Center. Friday's is at 2 p.m. and Saturday's is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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