Maybelle Music Fest Celebrates Female Voices, Art & Community
Writer & Photographer / Heather Collins
The Maybelle Music Fest is Saturday, Oct. 4, from 2–10 p.m. at Elm Street Brewing Co. in Muncie.
The fifth annual Maybelle Music Fest features 35 female-led performances, including 17 local bands. Muncie Civic Theatre actresses will perform monologues of The Carter Family and The Spice Girls lyrics.
Female muralists from the U.S. and Canada, including local muralist Ashley Runkle, will paint a vintage bus live at 7 Rock Brew. The family-friendly festival features chick bands, artists, actresses, poets and flowers.
Maybelle Music Fest celebrates the rawness and sensitivity of women in music.
“Community-built, live events help foster the flowering and flourishing of a healthy, connected society,” says Maybelle Music Fest Executive Director Heather Collins.
The festival includes female-owned vendors, Rusted Kreations flower truck and an A-1 for Fun zone with a princess carriage bounce house, bubble activities and classic games including four-way tug-of-war, giant Jenga and potato sack races. Record Parlor of Muncie will sell records and spin a DJ set.
Elm Street Brewing Company will brew a signature Maybelle beer and have specials on Maybelle margaritas and JohnTom’s BBQ sauce pulled pork sliders. The festival footprint encompasses the new McKinley DORA spanning from Elm Street Brewing Company to 7 Rock Brew.
“I love that local East Central Indiana talent is at the heart and center of Maybelle Music Fest,” says Meredith Laine of Prairie Creek Sirens. “There’s a real sense of community that comes from the festival — all brought together by the power of women in music.”
Maybelle Music Fest was founded in 2020 by singer-songwriters Ashley Gray and Heather Collins. Gray was inspired to launch Maybelle in Muncie after performing at an all-female festival in Philadelphia.
Collins is an Indiana State Festivals Association board member, music director for Earth Day Indiana, radio DJ for Midnights with Bebop & Lula on 101.5 WNAP The Buzzard and a Ball State graduate. Locally, Collins works with Sight & Sound Productions, Muncie Magazine and The Landing at Redwing. She launched the inaugural Carmel Jazz Fest in 2023 and managed the City of Carmel entertainment bookings.
Collins is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Lovesick Moan, an original 1960s rock ‘n’ roll band inspired by past “moaners” including Howlin’ Wolf and Tiny Tim. Lovesick Moan was featured at the 2023 and 2024 Muncie Three Trails Music Series.
Gray is an active performer in the Philadelphia music scene and returns to her hometown of Muncie for Maybelle Music Fest each year. Both Gray and Collins worked and performed at the former Muncie music venue Doc’s Music Hall, owned by local musician and Ayurvedic physician Dr. John C. Peterson of Doc & The Little Chicago Band.
“Many thanks to Mother Divine and Saraswati for bringing these wonderful women musicians to this incredible gathering,” Peterson says. “Saraswati is the goddess of music and the arts, known for bringing wisdom and creativity to the universe.”
Gray says Maybelle Music Fest has a true vibe of camaraderie and artistic admiration.
“In the last five years, Maybelle has blossomed from a budding vision to the beautiful bloom of a dream manifested,” says Gray, production director and director of women’s support for BRA (Bureau of Rad Artists).
Despite coordinating a large group of local women, Collins assures the festival is catfight free.
“It’s not girl power politics,” says Chad Nordhoff, lead guitarist of Lovesick Moan. “But rather, an atmosphere of respect. It’s easy for everyone to breathe in the flower-scented excitement.”
Vendors include Helz Yeah Pottery, Phantom Apothecary, Boom Vintage, From the Garden and Enchanted Plants.
“Maybelle is about community as much as music,” says Kim Sherwood, Maybelle vendor coordinator and associate event planner. “Maybelle Music Fest is testament to the power of community, creativity and the joy of women coming together to create.”
Hot pink and orange mums will be provided by Blaylock Farms. Walls Furniture will provide patio furniture. Horizon Convention Center will provide garden chairs.
“Maybelle continues to glow and grow, creatively stretching its celebration of women and their diverse talents,” says Cheryl Crowder, events director at Muncie Downtown Development Partnership.
The music lineup includes Foxxy, Prairie Creek Sirens, The Earthtones, Lovesick Moan, Ashley Gray, Oxford Baking Company, Four Rivers Band, Barrelhouse Cats, Raven & Rose and Doc & The Little Chicago Band.
Solo performances include Bianca DiCarlo Sulanke, Hayden & Awendela, Annette Miller, Birdy Gosser, Kathy Yuhl and Meredith Laine.
Local poets include Debra Gindhart-Dragoo, Phantom Knoet, Jennifer Criss, Lylanne Musselman and Rachel Adams.
During the holiday season, the Maybelle Carolers — featuring the leading ladies of Maybelle Music Fest — perform rock ‘n’ roll holiday tunes and spark spontaneous caroling throughout the community.
Annual promotional events for Maybelle Music Fest include Maybelle Flower Power, a 1960s shindig, and the Maybelle Jam, a community jam with Maybelle performers.
For more information, follow Maybelle Music Fest on Facebook and Instagram. Elm Street Brewing Company is located at 519 N. Elm St. in Muncie.
