The RISE Fest Story

---

Hamilton County RISE Fest began as an idea during the pandemic. With everything coming to a halt, bands and musicians were not playing live shows. We asked ourselves what if we put an event together as an excuse to play live without a crowd or a limited crowd and stream it......and make it benefit local non-profits through donations. The idea was born.

Most local bands liked and supported the idea. Like any event, it takes planning. The soonest we could get it scheduled was September 2021. But something changed....things were opening up and bands were now playing live again. Many of the bands involved in the original idea were not available on September 18th (2021) due to paid bookings. We had to pivot and find bands that were not booked that date or booked later in the evening and could play during the day. It worked.

What does RISE mean? We wanted to name the event since it was to be an all day music fest. Since all bands playing for free with proceeds and donations going to local non-profits, we wanted the name to tie into this theme. RISE was born...Rockers Impacting and Serving Everyone.  

Finally, what non-profits should benefit? How many? We decided we would choose one non-profit form each of the major Hamilton County cities: Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, and Westfield. Which ones? Well, the committee picked non-profits that they had personal experiences with that had impacted their lives.

We had the who, what, when, why but where? After brainstorming, we decided this event should be outdoors. We needed a partner. It came down to two possible locations. We found out one of the locations was experiencing complaints from local residents when having bands play due to the noise. The other location was more remote – Spencer Farm Winery. We reached out to Mark Spencer who embraced the idea and the plan was in place.

The vision for RISE Fest is to become an annual showcase. The non-profits that will benefit will change each year but they will always be Hamilton County based. Thanks for taking time to read our story. We hope to see you at Spencer Farm Winery in September!