Shipyard Festival docking in Cape Girardeau on Set. 22

Shipyard Festival lays anchor in Cape Girardeau on Sep. 22 with seven nationally touring bands and multiple food and drink vendors.

The event kicks off at 11 a.m. and runs until 10 p.m. at Ivers Square, with bands playing 30– to 60-minute sets, and short changeovers between artists. Tickets are $30 for general admission and $100 for VIP, with prices increasing online during the week of the festival, and even more at the gate.

Event organizer and creative director of Rust Media Jeff Rawson said the festival was spawned by the idea to incorporate some of the best aspects of Cape Girardeau into a community experience unlike any other.

“It was really this idea of creating a unique kind of community space for Southeast Missouri,” said Rawson. “We have good music. We just wanted something closer to that larger music-festival experience.”

The event will take place in the park next to the downtown courthouse. Rawson said parts of Lorimier and Themis streets will be closed to create the festival space. The gazebo at Ivers Square will be turned into a VIP bar area, with the west-facing stage situated in the parking lot behind the offices of the Southeast Missourian and Rust Media.

Rawson said he encourages attendees to bring a chair or blanket to sit on for the concerts, but there will also be standing tables around the venue for all to use.

Rawson is bringing stage set-up company Klance Unlimited, who have worked on events such as LouFest in St. Louis, to build the stage on the day of the festival. He says he was able to book the music artists with help from The Pageant in St. Louis.

The bands include Jamestown Revival, a Texas band with an Americana-rock duo who will close out the festival as headliners. Ryan Corn, a Scott City native and Southeast alum who takes heavy influences from John Mayer will also play the festival. Other bands range from the self-proclaimed “surf rock-candy” sound of Nashville husband and wife group *repeat repeat, to the indie sound of Royal Teeth.

“I’m really excited for the lineup, for the day. I think it’s going to be an amazing day of music,” Corn said. “It’s something that’s really fresh in Cape Girardeau.”

Food vendors from around the region will be at Shipyard Festival and Rawson said some will also have “experiences” like a race-car simulator and casino gaming

Rawson refers to this inaugural festival as a foundational year. He has many ideas to grow and develop the festival over time.

“We just want to see more bands, bigger stages, more days and really grow the footprint,” Rawson said. “The dream for me is that we make this a real destination event for Cape Girardeau.”

Rawson said he hopes to include more local bands in the future, as well as allow the festival to promote local music at all venues across Cape Girardeau.

“Our hope is that, not just in the future, maybe even this year, that we’ll have local bands in every venue downtown,” Rawson said. “Downtown Cape will turn into this great musical explosion after the Shipyard every year.”

Rawson said the event has been in the planning process for about a year, after being birthed from The Scout — a weekly newsletter he runs about Cape Girardeau events.

Rawson said he is looking forward to the opening day of the festival for many reasons.

“It’s going to be great to finally be there that day. Our whole team has been working on this for a while. We’ve put in a lot of effort trying to create something that not only we can be proud of, but that the region can eventually be proud of and really embrace,” Rawson said. “Ultimately, what I want to see is that true reflection of community. That everyone is in this communal experience together regardless of what’s happening outside of the gate.”

While the music festival is held in downtown Cape Girardeau, no downtown food or drink vendors are included. Kate Velishek, the operations manager for Celebrations and Ebb and Flow, Kate Velishek believes the festival will still be good for downtown business.

“I think [Shipyard Festival] encourages people to move downtown,” Velishek said. “I think people looking for something to do after the festival will want something close by, so hopefully people can come hang out and have a couple beers.”

Tickets are on sale now at shipyardfest.com.