Mission Creek, Iowa City’s beloved annual celebration of music and literature, is officially back in person after two years. Festival organizers are calling this year “a return to normalcy.”
The local festival was one of the first events to be postponed in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. After a series of virtual and outdoor events bearing the festival branding (including Best of the CRANDIC winner Ghost Creek), all programming will be in-person in the spring of 2022. Expect three jam-packed days of entertainment: a diverse group of local and nationally-known musicians, authors, literary scholars and community leaders will once again be taking over venues around town.
Well-known alt-indie groups Beach Bunny and Soccer Mommy, the experimental band Son Lux and Best New Artist Grammy Nominee Arooj Afrab (see recent Tiny Desk below) are a few of the bigger musicians in this year’s lineup. Many familiar favorites will take the stage: Squirrel Flower, Good Morning Midnight, Alyx Rush, Ahzia, Ramona and the Sometimes and more.
Additionally, literary masterminds Golden, a photographer, poet, and community organizer; poetry writer Fariha Róisín; and Chicago-based scholar and polymath Dr. Eve L. Ewing are worth taking note of in the literary lineup.
The festival kicks off on Thursday, April 7, wrapping up on Saturday, April 9. Grab a full-festival ticket now until Dec. 21 at 9:30 a.m. for a special early bird rate. Full-festival tickets are currently $80; they’ll go up to $100 on the 21st, when day passes will also become available. See the current full lineup below.
Announced Performers
Music
Beach Bunny
Soccer Mommy
Son Lux
Ric Wilson
Arooj Aftab
Haley Heynderickx
Elizabeth Moen
Tennyson
Fennesz
The Body
Cadence Weapon
Tré Burt
Kassa Overall
Squirrel Flower
Adia Victoria
Ohmme
Does Santos
Facs
Tempers
Corridor
KMRU
Aaron Dilloway
Willy Tea Taylor
Dryad
Ramon & The Sometimes
Peel Dream Magazine
Good Morning Midnight
Collidescope
Wave Cage
Alyx Rush
Ahzia
Maaze
Ya Ba
Lake Villain
Lex Leto & Christine Burke Ensemble
Literature
Golden
Fariha Róisín
Eve Ewing
Shayla Lawson
Sarah Gerard
Sarah Minor
Kaveh Akbar
Tameka Cage Conley
John Elizabeth Stinzi
Caryl Pagel
Daniel Khalastchi
Reneice Charles
