PHILADELPHIA – Waxahatchee will headline Philly Music Fest on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at Ardmore Music Hall. The festival, which takes place at six different venues, runs during the week of Oct. 21-27.
Waxahatchee joins Amos Lee, Slaughter Beach, Dog, Devon Gilfillian, Mondo Cozmo, Catbite, Reef The Lost Cauze, and Glass Band as the 2024 headliners.
“We are beyond excited to welcome Waxahatchee back to Philly Music Fest,” said PMF founder and Producer, Greg Seltzer. “Katie wrote so many amazing songs while living in Philly and despite the move to Kansas City, we’ll always consider Katie a Philadelphian.”
PMF returns for its eighth annual city-wide festival. PMF is a non-profit organization founded by a local husband and wife team, Greg and Jenn Seltzer. PMF highlights the thriving local music scene, then after paying all musicians and venues, PMF donates profits to music education programs for underprivileged kids.
PMF collaborates with WXPN on Inside Hustle, the only Philly music industry and networking event, which takes place twice per year, including the Saturday afternoon of Philly Music Fest (October 26) at REC Philly. Inside Hustle has grown to attract over 400 attendees per session, including musicians, managers, agents, publicists, radio personnel, streaming experts, studio engineers and students.
Philly Music Fest started in 2017 at one venue (World Cafe Live), donating $15,000 to music education for kids. PMF has gradually expanded to a full week of shows featuring Philly musicians and now annually donates $100,000 to music education, after paying all musicians and venues. PMF estimates annual impact on Philly’s music scene at $500,000.
Despite receiving donations from several local businesses, both large and small, along with individual donors including Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata and Connor Barwin, PMF maintains a strict policy of no corporate advertising or banners, assuring focus on the music and maintaining a DIY atmosphere.
In addition to the donations to music education, PMF established a microgrant fund in 2020, initially deploying over 330 microgrants to musicians suffering as a result of COVID-19, but now utilized to assist musicians with healthcare issues, as well as stolen gear or extreme financial distress.