MIDDLETOWN — Gable Music Ventures will be debuting a smaller version of its hallmark Ladybug Music Festival in September in one of Delaware’s growing towns.
The Ladybug Micro Music Fest will run for five hours on Sept. 21 in Middletown, a smaller set up than a full-fledged music festival hosted by the production company. This concert event will be held at the Middletown Town Hall on West Green Street and will include five women-fronted bands across various genres of music on one stage.
“With a larger festival, it takes ideally nine months to plan, but we wanted to continue to get the message out about our brand and lifting women’s voices,” Gable CEO and founder Gayle Dillman told the Delaware Business Times. “That’s what led to the idea of a microfest.”
Ladybug Micro Music Fest will include pop pianist and singer-songwriter Alyssa Garcia, blues-rock band Kozer, Americana band Roberta Faceplant, soul act the Side Chicks and Delaware singer Olivia Rubini, who was a contestant on last season’s “The Voice.”
In April — one month before Gable was set to run its Ladybug concert in Wilmington that drew 6,000 people — the company networked with Delaware’s Main Street programs that may be interested in a smaller festival. Main Street programs focus on community-led revitalization efforts in towns across the United States, namely through historic preservation and events to lift up local businesses.
Main Street Middletown, now led by Kate Rokoz, was interested in the prospect of a Middletown music festival. The up and coming town is among the fastest growing parts of the First State with the area now at 68,184 people as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
It’s a perfect place to expand the Ladybug brand because of the strong community that has flourished over the years, Dillman said.
“The hope is to bring people that wouldn’t normally come in downtown Middletown, and Ladybug has gotten national attention. Those who follow it in Wilmington may want to come down to Middletown because it’s not that far, and the other businesses can be a magnet for them to return to,” she said. “We want to bring something for the community that builds on the Middletown identity.”
The hope is that the micro festival approach can serve as a parallel event to hosting a second Delaware-based Ladybug Music Festival, as the one held in Milford was canceled. Noting the success Smyrna At Night festival has had in Kent County, Dillman said there’s potential to draw people from central Delaware as well.
“It’s almost like a sample,” Dillman joked. “If people experience Ladybug in a five-hour event, it may get them interested in considering attending or hosting a full-fledged event.”
Ladybug Micro Music Fest is free, and more information can be found at www.theladybugfestival.com
