Hawthorne Heights Announce Is For Lovers Festival

05-24-2022

Festival poster

(Big Picture Media) Hawthorne Heights have announced the brand new, Is For Lovers Festival, a multi-city experience set to make three stops in summer 2022 - Wichita, KS (August 27), Denver, CO (August 28) and Cincinnati, OH (September 10) - which features lineups carefully curated by the band themselves.

"Every single band playing is one we either grew up loving, have played alongside or simply enjoy hanging out with," says Hawthorne Heights front man JT Woodruff. "We wanted the line up to be diverse, inclusive, and created with a simple goal: LOVE AND COMMUNITY. We wanted the bands to feel loved, the fans to feel loved, and people of all walks of life to be represented and welcome."

The festival's first date, Kansas Is For Lovers, takes over Wichita's The Wave with headlining sets from The Wonder Years and Thursday and performances from Hawthorne Heights, Laura Jane Grace, Hot Mulligan, Real Friends, Emery, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The OBGMs and Thick - along with an indoor stage featuring a variety of local acts.

"Wichita is the first-place Hawthorne Heights ever got played on the radio," Woodruff remembers. "The local radio station taking a chance on 'Ohio Is For Lovers' opened the door for emo to be on the radio. Our shows in Wichita are always incredible, and we're really excited to bring some of these bands there for the very first time ever."

The next day, Colorado Is For Lovers hits Denver's Levitt Pavilion with The Wonder Years, Thursday, Hawthorne Heights, Story of the Year, Hot Mulligan, Emery, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, My Body Sings Electric, The OBGMs and Thick.

The festival run culminates with - what else? - Ohio Is For Lovers, split across three stages at Cincinnati's Riverbend Music Center with a headlining set from punk legends Descendents along with performances from Bayside, The Wonder Years, Hawthorne Heights, Senses Fail, Story of the Year, Emery, Knuckle Puck, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Crimson Apple, Bad Luck and Mint Green. (A second wave of Ohio Is For Lovers acts is forthcoming.)

"Our favorite memories from being in this band all take place at some sort of outdoor festival. We've been fortunate to play a lot of the big ones like Warped Tour, Reading and Leeds, Summer Sonic, SummerFest, And Rock on the Range to name a few, so we wanted to try to create that magic from our point of view." Find more details here.