Analog Fair Festival Brings Offline Music and Art Experience to Northside

A music and arts festival in Northside is slated to premiere its second iteration of hands-on creativity via an offline experience that promotes mindful art-making.

The Analog Fair festival was designed to encourage creative expression and mindfulness by removing the pressure of social media and engaging artists and participants in the present moment. By extracting screen distractions and employing immersive spaces, the festival narrows the focus on the art and artists.

“The creators of Analog Fair were curious to see how an event that shunned social media would fare in today’s world,” the official offline statement from Analog Fair reads. “And for many artists, the chore of social media management and online performing detracts from the experience of creating and sharing. So what if we could do without, and invite people to engage with the moment more than the screen? Our goal is to invite that type of experience, and to challenge ourselves and others to connect outside of online routines.”

On April 29, Analog Fair returns to Northside at The Factory Events with a full day of mindful art viewing, interactive activities and live performances. Entertainment is scheduled from 12-10 p.m. and includes live music, poetry readings and offline art forms created on the spot.

Zinecinnati - local zine publishers - will be illustrating their craft, along with live screen printing by CincinNative. Tarot card readings will be available along with in-person, large-scale portraits and poetry readings presented by poet Harris Wheeler. Conveyor Belt Books will also be showcased. Eleven bands, representing multiple genres, are slated to perform, including Patterns of Chaos (experimental rap) and Stef Chura (indie singer/songwriter).

Aside from a website where the public can buy tickets and uncover festival information, Analog Fair creators rely on word of mouth and tangible forms of advertising to spread the word.

“We stay away from all social media in favor of doing our marketing and engagement through physical posters, handbills and face-to-face interactions,” according to an Analog Fair press release.

The main stage is one-of-a-kind, designed by students from the University of Kentucky College of Design, who were led by Ingrid Alexandra Schmidt.

Schmidt is the co-founder of Substuido Design Firm and a professor at UK. The stage was built using recycled awning frames enveloped in varying textiles - another facet of the event that is unique to it and made specifically to function in the interest of the performers and guests.

Analog festival-goers are encouraged to participate as presently as possible, which includes ignoring the impulse to use a cell phone or post on social media.

The Analog Fair is April 29 from 12-10 p.m. at The Factory Events, 1546 Knowlton St., Northside. For more information, visit  analogfair.com.


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