Coming soon: Lexington’s largest music festival

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By Matt Murray

Avant-garde bands, art exhibitions, fashion shows and carnivals. In the past, Lexington residents would have to drive miles to attend music festivals of this caliber, but this weekend, Lexington hopes to forge its place in the American music scene with Boomslang.

Boomslang, the three-day, multi-venue music and arts festival looks to be one of the biggest musical festivals ever to be held in the city. The event will span 12 different venues over the course of the weekend and includes over 31 performers and artists.
Saraya Brewer, the event’s principal organizer and volunteer DJ for WRFL, said the idea for Boomslang was born when she went to Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tenn.
“Big Ears was the same multi-venue style we were going for. Knoxville is a similar size as Lexington, so I wondered why we couldn’t do that here,” Brewer said. “I talked to one of the WRFL directors, James Friley, my partner in this thing, and we looked at the WRFL budget and they decided it was worth it to use their money on this event.”
While WRFL is the primary sponsor for the event, other organizations are doing what they can to help out. The Alltech Fortnight Festival is incorporating some of Boomslang’s events in their two week festival, and helped sponsor the event along with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. In addition, Buster’s, the event’s primary venue, waived all costs they normally charge to hold shows.
Brewer said she hopes Boomslang will finally give Kentucky musicians the respect they deserve.
“I think (Boomslang) puts Lexington on the map musically. In a festival situation like this, it gives people a chance to hear artists they may not normally listen to,” Brewer said. “There are over 10 venues involved in this thing and it gives people a chance to go to places and see spots they don’t see on a daily basis.”
Psychadelic pop group Os Mutantes has been around since the late ‘60s, molding many artists that pervade today’s radio. An extended hiatus took its toll on the group’s popularity, but an event such as Boomslang is an opportunity for people to re-discover the group.
In addition to Os Mutantes, artists like Mission of Burma, Faust and The Black Angels are all scheduled to appear at the festival.
Out of the artists slated to perform at the event, Brewer hopes attendees will find something that fits their tastes in one way or another, even if one’s taste extends outside of music.
“We will be having a carnival on Saturday. We are going to have large installation art, a circus-themed fashion show and even an old school sideshow tent with people doing crazy stuff like walking on glass and lying on a bed of nails,” Brewer said.
“I’ve always been into the carnival scene and found it interesting and fun. All of these artists are kind of quirky and don’t really care about being mainstream and that kind of goes along with that idea,” Brewer said
Brewer has received no compensation for the hundreds of hours she has put into organizing the event, and said she merely does it out of passion for exposing the Lexington music scene.
While it is Boomslang’s first year and it is nearly impossible to predict attendance, Brewer hopes to see roughly 1,000 people circulate through the event’s three-day duration.
“It’s been a learning experience … Until this weekend, it’s really too difficult to tell for sure what the future holds for Boomslang, but we are definitely hopeful,” Brewer said.
Boomslang begins at 7 p.m. Friday and runs through Sunday at midnight. Tickets are available through Buster’s website, and student discounts are available. Weekend passes are $50, but individual day tickets are available.

If you go
What: Boomslang
When: 7 p.m. Friday through midnight on Sunday
Boomslang admission: Weekend passes are $50, individual day passes  are $20
After-party admission: Official after-party tickets are $5 for pass holders, $8 for non-pass holders
For more information:
visit Boomslang’s Web site at (www.boomslangfest.com)