Press release from the Innovia Foundation
Spokane, Wash. – Each year, the Historic Wallace Blues Festival brings community together to celebrate live music and the vibrancy of downtown Wallace. With tickets sold and bands booked to perform this weekend, event organizers abruptly cancelled the event last week citing technical difficulties.
Stepping in to ensure this music tradition can continue, generous community leaders, businesses and donors – including Innovia – are raising funds and rallying to organize a new event honoring Wallace’s vibrant and resilient community spirit.
Under the new name of Wallace Music Fest, the event will capture the essence of the beloved blues festival while accommodating current challenges. The Fest kicks off on Thursday, July 11, and runs through Saturday, July 13.
Wallace Music Fest will showcase the talented musicians of over 25 bands that will play across eight venues, all free to the public. Each show will be hosted by local Wallace businesses that worked with coordinators to book the musicians and draw visitors to the event.
“A group of businesses within the Wallace district and supporters of those businesses are coming together to turn this bad situation into a wonderful experience, filled with joy and support for each other,” says Marcy Hayman, an event organizer. “We’re just so proud to be from this community.”
Music has a unique ability to bridge divides, create social connections and promote understanding among people from all walks of life. As the community foundation for Eastern Washington and North Idaho, Innovia actively seeks opportunities to enrich communities by promoting vibrant and accessible experiences in arts and culture, including music. This year, in recognition of Innovia’s 50th Anniversary theme of “Celebrating Community,” the Foundation is investing in free and low-cost events and opportunities, like Wallace Music Fest, that bring people together.
“Music serves as a bridge, linking communities through shared experiences,” says Shelly O’Quinn, CEO of Innovia Foundation. “We are honored to partner with the Wallace community to ensure that this important opportunity for community connection and musical celebration will not be missed.”
For more information on the event’s line-up, visit: goinnovia.org/WallaceMusicFest. Innovia’s investment in the Wallace Music Fest is part of a series of events and activities Innovia is gifting to communities across Eastern Washington and North Idaho in celebration of the Foundation’s 50th Anniversary in 2024. More information about these events can be found at innovia.org/fifty.
