One of the biggest and longest-running music festivals in Minnesota is a celebration of the talent, creativity, and musical weirdness found year-round in the bars, breweries, and all-ages venues of the Twin Ports.

The 25th annual Homegrown Music Festival will feature 175 acts performing in Duluth, Minn., and Superior, Wis., at more than 30 stages across eight days from April 30 to May 7. The event draws thousands of people into downtown and surrounding neighborhoods to soak up the tidal wave of music roaring along the North Shore.

“It gives people an opportunity to see pretty much everything that Duluth and this music scene has to offer,” says Cory Jezierski, Duluth Homegrown’s interim co-director. “All the artists are connected to Duluth in multiple ways and each venue is going to feature artists of different genres too — so you can be at one venue and see all different types of music.”

The wristband-required ticketing allows fans to hop from bar to bar and take in more of their favorite sounds or discover new talent. It’s a wide-ranging, free-wheeling format that generates big crowds and high energy no matter the act.

“We try to showcase all the diverse styles of music that we can. So we’ve got pretty much anything you can think of that’s going to be featured,” says Jezierski. “There’s just so much.”

In addition to healthy doses of singer-songwriters, hip-hop acts, and flat-out rock ‘n’ rollers, Homegrown delivers the unusual — like experimental electronic artists, fire dancers, a one-man polka band, and a metal group known to violate raw meat.

The festival also brings out local stars who have expanded their audiences beyond Duluth to state, nationwide, even international levels.

Trampled by Turtles side-project Glitteratti will take the stage at the historic West Duluth watering hole Kom-On-Inn on Wednesday, May 3. Low guitarist Alan Sparhawk will perform with a robot-led choir inside a former cathedral. Rich Mattson and the Northstars, All The Pretty Horses, DJ Nola, The Brothers Burn Mountain, Emily Haavik & the 35s, and Sydney Hansen all tour and perform regularly around the Twin Cities and beyond.

“I always think of it as a reunion, kind of an all-class reunion,” says Scott “Starfire” Lunt, who hosted five bands for his 30th birthday party in 1998 then launched a “Homegrown” festival the following year. “It never got too big for its britches. It never tried to be a lot more than it is. It hasn’t gone corporate. It’s just a big community event, and for some reason, nobody will let it die.”

Lunt turned over party planning years ago but still attends Homegrown events and performs during the week with his Americana band Father Hennepin (this year, on Saturday, May 6, at Sacred Heart Music Center). He says big-name artists like Low, Trampled by Turtles, Charlie Parr, Haley, and Gaelynn Lea are evidence that the Duluth music scene is strong and relevant. Good talent attracts and generates more good talent.

“It’s kind of crazy that a town this size has so many well-known bands,” Lunt says. “You get sort of a critical mass of people who know people and it just starts to feed off itself.”

With a well-stocked talent pool and a community eager to rally around music, Homegrown quickly became a multi-day event featuring dozens of local acts. In 2006, a non-profit group took over its administration, formed committees, and built the week-long, city-wide celebration it is today. Over the years, the festival has found appeal across generations leading it to evolve in new directions. “All these kids that grew up with it are now in positions of power and able to make decisions and do things that are new and interesting. It’s great,” Lunt says.

For example, Emma Deaner has been involved with Homegrown since attending her first event as a teenager some 15 years ago. She helped introduce a now-famous roving chicken mascot to the festival while attending the University of Minnesota Duluth, and made her Homegrown debut as a drummer in the eerie folk project Superior Siren in 2015. Now Deaner is the entertainment curator for Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) — the largest venue in the city — which has incorporated the festival into its multi-stage building. Four bands will perform in-the-round at the DECC Arena on Tuesday, May 2.

Deaner says acts were booked into smaller stages inside the DECC last year, but the 2023 event will be the first time its 4,700-seat arena has hosted an official Homegrown show. Only the adjacent Amsoil Arena has a larger indoor capacity.

“This venue has some history and magic,” says Deaner. “As a performer, I love stepping into a space where the previous greats have performed. When (Superior Siren) performed at First Avenue you could totally feel that magical energy of Prince. So I hope that all the musicians this year will be able to feel the spirit of all the greats that once played at DECC Arena.”

Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Ozzy Ozbourne, Sonny & Cher, and Reba McEntire have all performed at the venue since it opened with a Beach Boys concert in 1966. The Avett Brothers were the last big name to perform at DECC Arena in 2018.

“We’re hoping to create in the space a way to highlight some of the biggest bands in Duluth in the most epic venue we have — but in a more intimate setting on the floor,” Deaner says. “It’s going to be a really cool way to celebrate all those musicians.”

Breanne Marie & the Front Porch Sinners, Boss Mama & The Jebberhooch, and Fenestra Funk are all on the DECC Arena bill. An emotional highlight of the evening will be a performance by The Gemstones. The five-piece, soul-funk group will perform a memorial to their leader Diona Johnson, also known as AfroGeode, who passed away suddenly April 10. “It will be a really beautiful night to pay tribute to one of the greatest community healers Duluth has ever known,” Deaner says.

Breanne Marie Tepler, who leads the Front Porch Sinners and serves on the Homegrown Steering Committee, says she expects supercharged shows at the DECC and all around town. “A Homegrown gig is different from all other gigs. The venues you’re playing are most likely packed,” she says. “The crowd is a mix of music fans eager to hear something they've never heard before. They are ready to discover a ‘new to them’ band or artist.”

Tepler says the festival brings a sense of joy and excitement to the city after a long, hard winter. “You find people walking down the street or in and out of venues saying "Happy Homegrown!" she says. “It's a holiday.”

Homegrown eight-day wristbands cost $40. Single-night wristbands are available for $25 on weekends and $15 at weekday shows. Wristbands will be available at any event venue on show nights. Wristbands can be purchased in advance at Globe News in Superior and Zenith Bookstore in West Duluth. Check out the full Homegrown Music Festival schedule here.

This feature is part of The Current’s 89 Days series, helping you enjoy the best of the season with weekly guides to events, entertainment, and recreation in the Twin Cities.