Mumford and Sons to headline summer music festival in Waverly

WAVERLY - First Woodstock, then Wadena, now Waverly.

For two days this summer, the population of this Bremer County town will explode as an estimated 35,000 music fans flock there for one of just four North American stops for Mumford & Sons' Gentlemen of the Road festival.

And as with Woodstock in 1969 and Wadena in neighboring Fayette County in 1970 and '95, the lineup features some of the hottest names on the music scene, coming to an open playing field in a relatively obscure location. The Grammy-winning British folk rockers will be joined June 19 and 20 by internationally known acts My Morning Jacket, The Flaming Lips, Jenny Lewis, Dawes, The Maccabees and The Very Best, among others laying down blistering sounds on the Wartburg College athletic fields.

'This has been in the works for a few months, and it's hard to keep a secret that long,” said Graham Garner, Wartburg's vice president for marketing and communication. 'Other cities were considered for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

But somebody knew the right somebody to set the wheels in motion.

The son-in-law of a Wartburg professor who used to work with one of the organizers suggested Waverly, and the fit was just right, Garner said. Collaboration between the city, businesses and college was the critical component.

'The city jumped right in and said, ‘Yes, we can make this happen,'”

he said.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this Friday, March 6, and previous festival stops have sold out in three days. Cost is $199 for a two-day pass that includes parking and camping.

'You have this week to think about it, and make your buy on Friday,” Garner advised.

Waverly joins Seaside Heights, N.J., Walla Walla, Wash., and Salida, Colo., for the hotly-anticipated summer tour that comes on the heels of Mumford & Sons' 'Wilder Mind” album debuting May 4.

It's a coup that could pack a $30 million economic wallop for Waverly, said Travis Toliver, executive director of the city's Chamber of Commerce.

'The organizers of the event are really encouraging the guests that come here to check out the town and go shop, go support the local community. That's really how this whole thing got started - they wanted to support local, charming small towns like Waverly and that's how they do it. They entice people to hear some great music and experience the town, all at the same time,” Toliver said.

Some of those dollars could spill over to nearby communities like Waterloo and Cedar Falls, he said, especially among attendees who prefer motels to tents.

The city of nearly 10,000 is ready for the influx of people, especially after serving as an overnight stop last summer for the thousands of people biking across the state on RAGBRAI, police chief Richard Pursell said.

Planning will begin in earnest next week for the traffic and pedestrian routes, as well as emergency shelter and evacuation routes. The city will hire additional public safety officials to police the event and keep things running smoothly.

Pursell said the biggest goal is to create a safe, fun environment attendees can feel not only with the festival, but also with the community itself.

'Waverly has an opportunity to shine, along with the band,” he said.

Another goal is to not interrupt the day-to-day activities of people who aren't involved with the festival.

'Our biggest compliment we got after RAGBRAI, is that our people didn't feel they were impacted by RAGBRAI,” he said. 'That's a huge kudos to the planning committee. We feel pretty confident that we'll be able to handle this, as well.”

Waverly Mayor Charles Infelt is looking forward to showing off the things that make his hometown and home state so special.

'Iowa is such a precious state - it's got so much going for it, so much momentum. Northeast Iowa does, too. Together with Cedar Falls, Waterloo and the Cedar Valley corridor, we have a lot of energy,” Infelt said. 'People are going to come to Iowa, they're going to come to Waverly and they're going to feel all this. And that's what we want to have happen.

'Life needs a certain warmth, a welcoming. We need an uplift. There's too much division. ... We need to have that whole other side of life lifted up, and I'm excited that Waverly can set the pace and say, ‘This is what life is all about - enjoying music, enjoying people coming to a town, welcoming each other, showing the real heart of living with a good heart,'”

he said.

'Iowa's got that, Waverly's got it. Let it happen.”