On Saturday, Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood will have another opportunity to strut its community art, music and crafts stuff with the annual Squarefest.
The event follows the success of the inaugural Highland Square Porch Rokr Festival in June and is advancing the Arts in the Square event scheduled for October, giving the eclectic neighborhood a fun, creativity driven, community friendly festival triptych.
This year's Squarefest will feature more than 30 local acts in a variety of genres spread across five strategically placed stages. Acts performing on the main stage will get an hour while side-stage acts will perform 40-minute sets with a 20-minute break between acts. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on West Market Street between Portage Path and Casterton Avenue. Admission is free.
In addition to the music, there will be a few classic cars on display and plenty of activities for the kids, including a bounce house and obstacle course, a Hula-Hoop contest, make-and-take crafts and train rides. For the grown-ups, Highland Square mainstay Annabell's Bar & Lounge will have a beer garden in the back parking lot while fellow neighborhood anchor Mary Coyle’s will host a Best of the West Pizza Contest.
Here is the schedule of musical acts with the names and locations of their respective stages along West Market Street.
Main Stage (at Portage Path)
11 a.m. — 11 After
Noon — Rachel Roberts
1:30 p.m. — Ozone
3 p.m. — Misery Jackals
4:30 p.m. — Rooster Jones
6 p.m. — Umojah Nation
Fusion Stage (at Casterton Avenue)
11 a.m. — Nick Wilkinson and the Featured Players
Noon — C-Level
1 p.m. — Matt Haas
2 p.m. — Acid Cats
3 p.m. — Applesauce
4 p.m. — Time Cat
5 p.m. — Maid Myriad
Variety Stage (at South Highland Avenue)
11:30 a.m. — Johnny G.
12:30 p.m. — Brandi Whitehurst
1:30 p.m. — Mike Lenz
2:30 p.m. — Fast Molasses
3:30 p.m. — Jovan Wilder and the Wild Things
4:30 p.m. — The Poplars
5:30 p.m. — Light of the Loon
Family Stage (library parking lot)
12:15 p.m. — Johnny and the Applestompers
1:15 p.m. — RiverFall Folk Rock
2:15 p.m. — Fergie and the Bog Dogs
3:15 p.m. — The Michael Weber Show
4:15 p.m. — The African Connection
5:15 p.m. — Zobapago
Annabell’s Beer Garden
Noon — The Stems
1:15 p.m. — Morgan Phelps with his Warr Guitar
2:15 p.m. — Colin John
4 p.m. — Angie Haze Project
5 p.m. — The Midnight Railers
6:15 p.m. — The Bleeding Feathers
7:30 p.m. — Eddie Doldrum
9 p.m. — Apryl Red DeBord & the Friendly Fire Tribe
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758. Read his blog, Sound Check Online, at www.ohio.com/blogs/sound-check, or follow him on Twitter @malcolmxabram.