MidxMidwst festival postponed to 2022

The inaugural MidxMidwst mural art and culture festival will wait another year to debut.

The event planned for downtown Springfield Sept. 11-12 is being pushed back to Sept. 10-11, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release. The pandemic also forced festival organizers to call off the event in 2020.

"We are deeply disappointed but are confident that postponement is the best choice for both our community and the quality of our event," event officials said in the release. "Though we remained hopeful throughout planning that holding a safe outdoor event was within reach, we simply did not meet the internal metrics set for community health status and feel it is a disservice to our artists, our volunteers and our community to host our event at this time."

Led by founder Meg Wagler, MidxMidwst earlier this year raised more than $10,000 through a Kickstarter campaign. The event is slated to feature live mural painting and music.

“It was very intentionally curated to be a mix of local, regional and national talent so that we can bolster our local artists and give them a spotlight, but also cross pollinate these creative ecosystems with other successful art communities,” Wagler previously told Springfield Business Journal.