By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — The tunes were bouncing off the walls of North Main Street and the good times were rolling in downtown Three Rivers Sunday night.
The 33rd HarmonyFest music festival saw a number of artists of all different styles take the stage to a crowd that was lively and steady for all nine hours, with little to no reported hiccups throughout the day.
HarmonyFest organizer Charlie Wolgamood said he was impressed with the turnout, giving some credit to the sunny weather in helping to get people downtown.
“We get people coming and going throughout the day, but there was always people there, and there was quite a lot of people sticking around last night towards the end, so I think that’s a good sign,” Wolgamood said. “The weather helped quite a bit, too. It was still kind of hot, but not like it has been in the past, and then cooled off at night, and it was perfect.”
However, most of the credit could be chalked up to the artists who performed throughout the afternoon and evening. The day started with a set from the Decatur-based blues group Lisa Chilton Band, who performed for the first hour and change. Compared to previous years, Wolgamood observed, there was a bit of a larger crowd for the early performance, with a decently-sized grouping being out on Main Street near the stage and in the vendor area for the start of the festival.
“I noticed that, too. It was great. There were more people there, and I think the first band, Lisa Chilton, she brought a bunch of people with her from her town of Decatur. So, family and friends, I noticed there in the first row, and it just kind of built up from there. So, I was quite pleased,” Wolgamood said.
As for Chilton, a first-time participant at the festival, she said she enjoyed having a good-sized crowd show up to start the day.
“I kinda heard sometimes they’re not here that early, so it was great to see everyone out there and a lot of people I know out there to support,” Chilton said. “Everybody’s out there and having a great time, and the kids are having fun. I had a blast.”
Chilton also gave kudos to Three Rivers and the festival as a whole, saying, “I really love Three Rivers. I really appreciate how well Three Rivers does with keeping the arts alive, and so it’s really important I get to be here, and I’m thankful for that.”
Next on the docket was The Reverend Jesse Ray, a one-man band playing rockabilly and blues music. Ray put on an entertaining set for his time on stage, riffing with the audience between songs and playing some upbeat music.
Ray, who previously played HarmonyFest back in 2024 with Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish, said it was great to be back in Three Rivers, and enjoyed the energy the crowd gave.
“I’ve been to a lot of other festivals, and this one is a little something, I can’t describe it, I can’t put it into words, but I knew I wanted to come back, and I was really excited to be back,” Ray said. “I had a great time, great time, super fun, and you’ve got a nice community here.”
Other performers throughout the day included Paul Jellico, the Kalamazoo Pipe Band, the Bootstrap Boys, and the Chris Canas Band, alongside headlining group the Out of Favor Boys. Both the penultimate and headlining acts said they had a great time at the festival, and enjoyed the crowd.
“This was awesome. The energy is great, the stage and sound sounded magnificent. I went down there and had some barbecue and I could hear everything perfectly clear down there. Everything in general felt really good,” Canas said. “We’ve played some pretty high-energy places, and the energy is pretty much on par with all the other bigger festivals we’ve been to. It reminds me a lot of Marshall [Blues Festival] a bit too. Three Rivers is up there. I love it; the city’s got a lot of culture.”
“It always feels great to be out here playing at HarmonyFest. It’s always a nice crowd and a great setting, and we really enjoy the chance to play over here,” Tony Sproul of the Out of Favor Boys, who have been at the festival a few times previous, said. “The night was perfect for the weather, the stage and sound is always great, and the energy from the crowd was always good. Before we even started, I got here close to 7 p.m. or something like that, and walking around real quick and getting the chance to walk up and down the street, the energy from the people that were here was great, and already excited about being able to see us, which is always a fun thing.”
Wolgamood said the performers he talked to echoed those same sentiments about the festival.
“Quite a few of them hung around for a while, too, afterwards, which I like,” Wolgamood said. “They all seemed happy, and I know Chris Canas and some other people haven’t really been here before, and they were surprised, like, ‘Man, you guys got it going on here.’ We want them to have a pleasurable experience and we want to get them back in the future.”
Following the main sets on the Main Street stage, there was an afterparty in East Alley with the Michiana Boys and Faux Beamage performing.
There was also some fun for the kids as well in the Kids Zone, as there was a painting station, a mini-basketball game, enlarged chess, hula hooping, a foam party, and for a brief moment, the Three Rivers Fire Department and St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office had vehicles available for kids to observe and get in. A number of food vendors were also available, and some restaurants, stores and merchandise vendors were open during the festival.
Wolgamood said HarmonyFest will likely stay on Main Street for now, despite the presence of the new amphitheater on the east side of downtown, however he said it could move down there when the reconstruction project on Main Street and Michigan Avenue commences later this decade. The big reason to keep it downtown, Wolgamood said, is the atmosphere of the environment that has been around for more than 30 years.
“I like the idea of music coming off the buildings. You just get a cool sound off those 140-year-old buildings. And I would say the same thing every time, it’s the same reason people rev their cars up and rev their motorcycles up downtown, because it sounds nice off those buildings,” Wolgamood said.
However, he didn’t rule out incorporating the amphitheater into the festival in some way in the future.
“I don’t know, we might look at doing something, expanding HarmonyFest a little bit too. Maybe we’ll have a two-day HarmonyFest, part of it at the amphitheater, part of it downtown, but that’s stuff we’re going to have to talk about with all the volunteers and everything,” Wolgamood said. “We’ll see. We’ve got a lot of options, I guess.”
Overall, Wolgamood said it was a successful HarmonyFest.
“Everyone seemed to have a good time, so we’re quite pleased,” Wolgamood said.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
