CLEVELAND — WonderStruck Music Festival has drawn thousands to Lakeland Community College every year since it started in 2016, creating a space where people can experience live music and boosting the local economy. 

From scheduling artists down to sorting trash and recycling, it takes a lot to put a music festival together. 

The gates at Wonderstruck Fest don’t open until 1 p.m., but the festival’s production manager, Mark O’Shea, said he's up and at it long before then.

“I stay on the grounds here because we have these really nice RVs,” O’Shea said. “I woke up at five, been up since five.”

O’Shea wears many hats at the Elevation Group, the company that runs WonderStruck and four other music festivals in the region.

He’s responsible for coordinating the festival’s power, connecting with the artists, making sure the set-up and tear-down of stages runs properly, monitoring weather conditions and handling any other hiccups that arise. 

“One day, we were trying to figure out what is it that I do,” O’Shea said. “It’s like an air traffic controller, and the artists and the bands and the crew members are pilots, and I just have to direct them where they’re going.”

He said the job is demanding, starting months before the festival date. 

O’Shea has spent that time meeting with the power company, local law enforcement and mapping out how many crew members will be needed at each stage for the performances. 

They all stay connected on the day of the festival. 

“I think we have over 150 radios on site,” he said.

Once the gates open, if everything goes according to plan, the crew runs on autopilot.

At that point, O’Shea said he remains on standby. 

He said he knows almost everyone’s name in the crews he oversees, something that’s not uncommon for people in the industry.

There aren’t many people in the region who do this work, he said, so they see each other at most big events.

While they do have fun, the work can be draining.  

O’Shea said he’s left concert production before, but his passion for live performances draws him back every time. 

“You can see already, a large crowd of people just standing out here, ready to go, having fun, enjoying the weather, having a drink, food in their hand,” he said. “This is what’s rewarding for us. The smiles, the roar of the crowd, the cheering. It’s infectious. It really is.”

The Elevation Group will host WonderBus Music Festival in Columbus Friday, Aug. 25 through Sunday, Aug. 27.