After a rocking debut last year, the Monroe County Music Festival is set to return with even more local talent, an additional day of performances and hopes for even greater funds raised for charity.

This year’s concert is Friday and Saturday, July 19-20, and is once again taking place at Fountain Inn, 1912 Fountain Road near Valmeyer, serving as a prelude to the Monroe County Fair which begins the day after.

While organizers introduced the festival tentatively with just one day last year, strong attendance and positive feedback have left them confident about hosting performances on both Friday and Saturday this time around.

Event co-chairs Kevin Kujawa and Zoar United Church of Christ Pastor R.J. Morgan both spoke about the success of last year’s concert and the hopes they have for this year.

Kujawa said the concert thoroughly exceeded expectations, with everything running decently smooth throughout the day.

He also noted how the great crowd and community support helped the event raise almost $8,000 for Monroe County House of Neighborly Service.

“There’s just a whole lot more to offer this year,” Kujawa said. “We found out where our weaknesses were last year and kind of shored them up this year. Anything that disappointed us last year should not disappoint us this year… We’re getting it.”

Morgan echoed this sentiment, adding how interest in the event seems to have grown even more since last year.

“We were just very pleased with the support, with the turnout, with the amount of money we were able to raise, everything last year,” Morgan said. “This year, it just seems like everything has grown immensely.”

As previously mentioned, this year’s festival is significantly larger, with 18 bands set to play over two days, with performances bouncing back and forth between the main stage and an added second stage to make sure the music keeps on coming.

Kujawa spoke very positively about the 2024 lineup, with local talent of all kinds. He noted that both younger and older artists from the area will be featured, and folks who frequent the Monroe County music scene are sure to see plenty of familiar faces.

“It’s 18 pretty, pretty good bands,” Kujawa said. “If you go anywhere and listen to music in this county, you will have heard almost all of these bands.”

While a full schedule and lineup is available at monroecountymusic.com,  a number of particularly known acts include Pick N an a Grin N, Boulderdash, CLUless and Dazed N Confused STL.

DJs from KBDZ 93.1 FM in Perryville, Mo., will also be broadcasting from the event on July 20.

While Kujawa is plenty excited to be able to help showcase a wealth of local talent again, the fundraising for HNS is a major aspect of the event.

With a much larger concert planned, Kujawa said organizers are hoping to hit $15,000 for the local charity.

“At the end, our goal is to raise maybe double what we raised last year for the Monroe County House of Neighborly Service, and that whole time highlighting the local music scene in Monroe County which I think is just absolutely fantastic,” Kujawa said.

On top of the music, the event will also have food available from Zoar UCC along with shaved ice.

There will also be a merchandise village for some of the bands.

As an additional note, the event is cash only and outside coolers are not allowed.

Tickets for the festival are available online at monroecountymusic.com or at any First National Bank of Waterloo location, Fountain Inn or the HNS office at 217 W. Mill Street in Waterloo.

General admission tickets for one day are $10, while a ticket for both days is $15. Tickets for the VIP tent are similarly available for one or both days at $30 and $50, respectively.

Tables can also be reserved in advance of the event.

Kujawa said ticket sales for the festival have been strong since they first began selling them at the start of the month.

“Everything’s coming together – knock on wood – pretty good,” Kujawa said. “Tickets are selling well ahead of last year’s pace, so I anticipate it to be a pretty big crowd.”

Both Kujawa and Morgan further spoke about the support for the event that they’ve witnessed.

Kujawa expressed his appreciation for the larger sponsors of the event – including the Republic-Times, First National Bank of Waterloo, Engage Realty, Luhr Bros. Inc., Sidebarr Technologies and Nu-Deal Oil Co. – while Morgan noted the broader outpouring of support from the community.

“It’s been overwhelming that people get behind this and move forward,” Morgan said. “I’ve been part of lots of different programs and projects where it seems like you’re paddling upstream the entire time. We’ve definitely put a lot of work into it, but it certainly seems like we’re getting a lot of good support, a lot of positive feedback. I’m very optimistic. I feel certain it’s gonna be a much bigger year and another quality event.”

On the future of the event, Kujawa said the festival could see yet another day added down the line if there’s even more support from bands, businesses and the community, though the organizers still aren’t looking to bite off more than they can chew.

“I guess somewhere deep in my mind, I can see it being a Friday-Saturday-Sunday event, but we move cautiously and we move slowly, like we did last year,” Kujawa said. “If we’re successful pulling this off, and the demand is there and we have the bands to fill the slots, we could definitely look at, I guess, a three-day event… but let us survive the two-day first.”

For more information on the festival, visit monroecountymusic.com.