APPLETON, Wis. — Business was brisk at Lawlss Coffee in downtown Appleton Tuesday morning.
Kitchen manager Anthony Carter was showing one of the new employees how to make a grilled-cheese sandwich. He said he expects the first few days of August will be much busier, as they usually are during the Mile of Music festival.
“There’s constant movement on the street. From a bird's eye view, I imagine it just looks like water. It’s completely filled,” he said. “People are very excited. People are getting introduced to some of the venues and some of the places here they normally wouldn’t have gone to.”
At a kickoff event Tuesday, Mile of Music organizers said the festival could bring as many as 100,000 people to downtown Appleton this summer over four days. Appleton has a population of about 75,000 people.
“For me, it’s going to mean being very busy for a solid three days. Many extra hours,” Carter said. “Our staff runs pretty bare bones generally, and it does get busy, but for Mile of Music we'll double the staffing for that. Sometimes that’s not even enough. But that’s a good problem to have.”
This year’s event runs from Aug. 1-4. It’s expected to include about 200 acts and educators performing original music at venues throughout downtown Appleton.
Mile Of Music team member Dave Willems said the festival has become a must-do event for many artists.
“This has become a go-to spot. It’s on their bucket list,” he said. “It’s kudos to the entire community, those 3,000 pairs of hands that help make the festival happen, because they’ve created an environment where the artists feel validated and the artists feel appreciated and respected.”
The first 50 acts were announced Tuesday. It includes artists from 15 states, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
Willems said with a growing festival, organizers are making tweaks to meet the number of people in downtown businesses.
“We continue to work on things,” he said. “We’re also not going to go as late. We’re going to try to end everything by midnight and not go much after midnight. We want to allow for that late-night crowd that comes in, those younger folks who come in the bar scene, to be able to come in at 12:30 or 1, and the crowds kind of empty out and then the new crowd comes in… We’re trying to do things as smartly as we can and as safely as we can.”
Carter said Mile of Music has introduced Appleton to a wider audience.
“It’s really good for business, and not just for those three days,” he said. “If we leave that impression them, they’re going to come back and then they’re going to become regulars and they’re going to tell their friends, ‘Mile of Music happened. I went and saw this awesome band. I had great in-house-roasted coffee and food, so I’m going to come back.’”