As part of Musikfest’s 30th anniversary, Liberty and Freedom High School intermediate marketing students have joined with ArtsQuest to book and promote eight bands for this year’s festival. The students, who are part of the “Marketing Musikfest 30” class, have chosen four bands to take the stage for free concerts each Saturday at the festival’s Plaza Tropical venue.

On Aug. 3, Liberty will present New Jersey pop-punk band Time Will Tell, hip-hop trio GroundUp, pop rock act Bonner Band and rockers Daylight. The following Saturday, Aug. 10, Freedom will present alternative folk group Ballroom Thieves, which will bring its foot-stomping mix of alternative folk to the festival. Denver-based blues group Fox-Street Allstars, acoustic singer-songwriter Dana Twigg and electronic duo Mad Rapture will also perform.

The times for each day are:
Aug. 3
Time Will Tell – 2:30 p.m.
Ground Up – 3:30 p.m.
Bonner Band – 4:30 p.m.
Daylight – 5:30 p.m.

Aug. 10
Ballroom Thieves – 2:30 p.m.
Fox- Street Allstars – 3:30 p.m.
Dana Twigg – 4:30 p.m.
Mad Rapture – 5:30 p.m.

Liberty and Freedom students have been working with ArtsQuest since January to learn everything that goes into planning, booking and presenting Musikfest. ArtsQuest staff members have been visiting the students at school to discuss various aspects of the festival such as marketing, public relations and production. The students have gained hands-on, real-world work experience by communicating directly with and booking the bands. Now they’ll use their newly-learned marketing skills to help spread the word about the concerts and the festival.

“The Marketing Musikfest 30 course has been one of my favorite program initiatives of the past school year,” says Bethlehem Area School District Assistant Superintendent of Education Dr. Jack Silva. “I can’t wait to see the bands at Plaza Tropical. As a district, we are trying to make learning more relevant to students’ interests and career paths; our partnership with ArtsQuest on this unique course has become a model for future high school electives. If I was a student, I would love to be in this class.”

For more information on the Bethlehem Area School District at Musikfest, follow on twitter: @FHS_AtTheFest & @LHSatMusikfest.

Musikfest, the nation’s largest free music festival, is set for Aug. 2-11. This year’s event will feature more than 500 performances on 14 stages, as well as 60 food vendors, 45 artisans and more. For more information, visit www.musikfest.org.