Three months after the last performers left the stage at this year’s 80/35, the organization behind the music festival has announced it is shutting down.
“After nearly twenty years of volunteers and staff working passionately to grow central Iowa’s music scene, the non-profit Greater Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC) has made the heartfelt decision to officially dissolve the organization,” DMMC, which has staged 80/35 since 2008, said in a statement on its site. “We want to commend the many volunteers, sponsors, donors, advocates, and event attendees that supported the DMMC’s cause over the years.”
DMMC filed the paperwork necessary to dissolve the nonprofit with the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office on Friday, Axios Des Moines’ Jason Clayworth reported on Tuesday morning.
“While the future of the 80/35 Music Festival is not currently determined, it will no longer be operated by the DMMC,” the nonprofit said in its statement.
Since its beginning, 80/35 focused heavily on local musicians and artists, although it had notable national touring acts, too. It had free, unticketed stages, as well as a paid-admission stage for headliner acts.
In August, DMMC board president Kuuku Saah told the Des Moines Register that organizers were “thinking through” the future of 80/35, after a lower than normal turnout for this year’s festival.
This year’s festival marked a big departure from the previous 14 editions of 80/35. In May 2023, then-festival director Mickey Davis announced the 2024 festival would be held in Water Works Park instead of downtown.
“80/35 and Western Gateway Park are forever linked in the rebirth of Des Moines’ downtown core,” he said in a statement at the time. “Since the first 80/35 in 2008, which took place in the field that later became the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park, the festival has grown with and adapted to a changing downtown.”
Davis cited construction in downtown Des Moines and “unsustainable” production costs as reasons for the move. Reviewing 80/35 for KRUI, Glenn Houlihan found the new location problematic.
“While the 1,500 acres of open woodland has obvious natural beauty, that doesn’t make it an inherently suitable location for a music festival, especially one renowned for its comfort and convenience,” Houlihan said. “The setting instead was incredibly uncomfortable and inconvenient. While there were elements that did work, such as the Hammock Village and Biergarten, these were overshadowed by an ill-conceived layout and a severe lack of cooler spaces.”
That lack of cooler spaces was a real problem this year, as the July festival coincided with a week of extreme temperatures.
“I appreciate that organizers can’t predict a heatwave, but hosting an Iowa music festival in July in a giant field with minimal shade isn’t ideal,” Houlihan said. “Between the heat, humidity, and ravenous mosquitos, attending the festival became a sweaty, itchy, chore. This was a crushing disappointment considering how smoothly previous years have functioned.”
Despite the problems with the location, layout and heat, Houlihan said the festival still featured “immensely talented local artists.”
Like other music festivals, 80/35 was hit hard by COVID-19. The pandemic caused the festival to be canceled in 2020 and 2021. Following its return in 2022, Little Village’s Lily DeTaye said, “the festival was able to retain the same energy it has always had: Midwestern hometown vibes all dressed up to welcome a star-studded lineup.”
Last month, NPR’s Planet Money pointed out that many musical festivals in the U.S. and Europe had been canceled this year, while “even some big-name festivals that used to sell out in minutes struggled to sell tickets this year.”
“Burning Man failed to sell out for the first time in over a decade. Coachella, the most attended annual music festival in North America, saw a decline of around 15% in ticket sales this year compared with last year.”
Planet Money cited increasing production costs and higher ticket prices as part of the problem, but added, “the festival slump may also be driven by factors that are more thought-provoking: technological changes in music listenership and a generation of kids who may lack the same enthusiasm for festivals as generations past.”
Axios’ Clayworth reported “DMMC had nearly $300,000 more in expenses than in revenue at the end of 2022, according to its latest tax filing,” and its “net assets dropped nearly 67% that year — from $441,000 to $149,000, per the filing.”
In its statement, DMMC noted that in addition to 80/35, it had “hosted dozens of local music events, summer music camps, [and] music business education sessions” as it worked to build up and support the local music scene.
“The landscape has changed significantly [since 2005], and we believe the many other music-related organizations and businesses in central Iowa are well-positioned to continue the work to foster our local music culture, and strive to position Des Moines as a nationally-recognized music city,” DMMC said.
Over the next several weeks, DMMC said it “will work directly with our partners, vendors, and supporters to wind down operations.”
“Thank you, Des Moines,” DMMC’s statement concluded. “Your passion for music has made all the difference.”
