Following 2 years of cancellation due to COVID, Waking Windows is back and bigger than ever for a fantastic 2022 event filled with music, food, and culture. We’ve all been deprived of events with good tunes for far too long and are itching to get back out there for some in-person festivities. Spending May 13-15 in the heart of Winooski with some great acts seems like the perfect way to enjoy a Spring weekend. While we’re all gearing up for this event, let's look at the past festivals and hear about some of the big acts this year.
What is Waking Windows?
The first Waking Windows was a 12-day long festival that took place at the Monkey House back in 2011. It was a small festival consisting of a few local acts. It has since grown into a defining event in Winooski each year, growing in size and securing bigger names to perform. Performances now take place at venues all around the city throughout the weekend. This event has now become a cultural experience of music, food, and art spanning over a decade. Waking Windows is now an all ages event, there are even designated “kid zones” in place to ensure a fun and safe day for all in attendance. Some specific events and shows, especially later in the day, are 21 and up. Be sure to check in advance any age parameters in place.
Who Can you expect to see this Year
This year's line up is packed with impressive acts. The headliner is the Grammy nominated band, Japanese Breakfast. This experimental pop group is headed by Michelle Zauner, who is not only a musician, but the author of the best selling memoir, Crying in H-Mart. Japanese Breakfast released their debut album in 2016 and has gone on to release two more albums, tour internationally, and recently perform at Coachella. Known for the stage presence, Japanese Breakfast is sure to give an outstanding performance on May 14.
Some of the other big names hitting the stage this year include Dinosaur Jr, Vagabon, Alex Cameron, Dry Cleaning, and Francesca Blanchard just to name a few. These performers will be scattered throughout the day at different stages downtown. Some will even be playing sets at the late shows going from 10 pm onward.
There’s more to the festival than just the music. The event features food trucks, voter registration tables, an artisan market, karaoke, comedy shows, and spoken word performances from the Page Burner Reading Series. While this event is primarily for music lovers, you’ll have plenty of fun and entertaining activities that are well worth your while if that is not necessarily your scene. I’m personally so thrilled to see a set of Annie Russell’s comedy set on either Friday or Sunday.
So how can you attend? Luckily, there are tickets still available for different dates of the event. The schedule of performers for each date can be found here. Please note that this event does require proof of full vaccination in order to enter the festival.
After a long and chilly winter, we all deserve a day of (hopefully) sunny weather and tunes. Let us know who you are most excited to see out of this year's line-up. If you attend the event, send us a photo to be featured on our social media.