The Fifth Annual Benefest, to bring an array of local bands to Athens hotspots to.
The three bars that patrons can count on for local bands’ performances every weekend will instead house music to aid charitable works in Athens.
Thursday kicks off the Fifth Annual Benefest, at Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery, the Smiling Skull Saloon and Casa Nueva at 9 p.m.
The three-day event will have 14 bands performing a variety of music to raise money for local nonprofit organizations.
According to Brandon Perales, general manager of the WLCI 97.5 FM and director of Benefest, the event was established in 2011 and has raised money for a variety of community-based nonprofit organizations. Perales said the event has raised $4,000 for local organizations, programs and locations since the first festival four years ago.
This year, the donations are going toward the Gathering House and the Stuart Opera House After School Music Program.
The Gathering Place is a community drop-in center that treats and connects mentally-ill patients with support networks. Support includes connections to housing, jobs and food.
The Stuart Opera House After School Program allows children in Nelsonville to receive lessons on house to play instruments, record music and performance.
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Most of the acts performing will be southeastern Ohio bands, along with a couple from Yellow Springs, Ohio. Headliners include: Bride at Night, Slackluster and Weird Science.
Megan Fair, a junior studying journalism, will perform Thursday under her project alias ‘Space Buns Forever.”
Fair describes her solo act as “lo-fi crybaby pop, with lyrical content that reflects the challenges of being depressed and anxious.”
Fair’s sound is in cooperation with 13 other bands to create a festival-filled sound from a multitude of genres.
Perales said these genres include: alternative, psychedelic, metal, hard rock, Americana and blues folk.
“We bring in an ecliptic set of genres and artists so people don’t just hear one set sound,” Perales said. “People get to hear all of the different sounds from their own community.”
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