Heading into its fifth year this summer, Music at the Intersection is making some changes. There will be no VIP tickets. The music festival in Grand Center will span three days instead of two, with the conference portion previously held on Friday now mixed in throughout the weekend—so festival goers might wander into an industry panel or keynote speaker in between musical performances. A new membership program will help unlock “events and activations” throughout the year.
Music at the Intersection is also now officially MATI—an acronym standing not only for its name, but also its key concepts of music, art, thought, and innovation. Chris Hansen, executive director of Kranzberg Arts Foundation, says organizers aren’t retiring the old name so much as opting for a nickname the public has already begun to use. “It was organic in part and strategic in part,” he says.
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As for the changes to the experience, Hansen says the festival always had a queasy relationship with the VIP concept. After all, unlike many musical festivals, this one is thrown by a nonprofit and gives away several thousand tickets each year. “We never wanted to be transactional with the market,” he says.
The new membership program offers a different way for superfans to engage and support the programming. Hansen says the organizers aim to sign up 300 members this year. “Those are our ambassadors,” he says. “Those are the folks that are championing the effort and thinking about this as something very important to them culturally, and helping us sustain it year over year.”
It’s not all altruism: They’ll get early access to MATI events and additional opportunities such as meet-and-greets with artists. They just won’t be roped off into a separate experience during the festival. Giving all attendees VIP-level perks (such as access to indoor restrooms and air conditioning) seems more in keeping with the festival’s vibe, and Hansen stresses that the memberships are a chance to expand programming even as the overall ticket price ($150 for the three-day festival) will be lower this year.
This year’s plans include three main stages, plus more than a dozen stages and venues throughout Grand Center and the Locust Business District. By jettisoning the former Washington Avenue stage, the organizers were able to envision a “barrier-free, fully connected Grand Center walking experience for those with tickets and without,” in the words of their press release. They’re promising a Washington Avenue lined with vendors, food trucks, buskers, pop-up performances, and more.
Says Hansen, “It will be everything you’ve come to love about MATI; it’s just expanded. It’s more accessible. It allows the neighborhood to breathe and be connected. And if you live by here, work down here, maybe you’re just not interested in going to a whole festival and conference experience, you can still walk down your streets, enjoy your community. There’s going to be free activations in Strauss Park. Galleries will be open. The museums will be open. There’ll be all kinds of things for people if they just stumble upon the neighborhood.”
For all that, the music will remain a central focus. Hansen promises this year’s festival lineup, set to drop April 15, will double down on the funk, soul, jazz, and hip-hop that have built past festivals. In other words, MATI will still be Music at the Intersection in a way that matters to music fans.
“All the ingredients are the same. We’re just baking the cake a little differently,” he says. Of the lineup, he adds, “I think everyone’s going to be very happy.”
MATI member passes are now available on the festival website. MATI GA weekend passes are $150 and will go on sale to the general public on April 18 (past ticket buyers can start early, on April 15).
