When Iowa City’s Mission Creek Festival was founded 20 years ago, it was a singular celebration of independent artists in the “Greatest Small City for the Arts.”
The multi-day festival spanned a variety of venues to support the thriving arts scene. In 2026, after two decades of innovation, Mission Creek organizers are ushering in a new era.
The new chapter unveils Day Party, a multidisciplinary single-day event “rooted in food, literature and music” in Iowa City.
The new festival will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at places like Plated Table, Public Space One and several other yet-to-be-announced venues.
“Iowa City was so different in 2006,” said Day Party, co-director Andre Perry, in a news release. “…We want to re-center our efforts on where we can offer something fresh and, hopefully, inspiring for our local arts scene.”
Perry, who is also Hancher Auditorium’s executive director and a co-founder of Mission Creek Festival, is teaming up with longtime champion of the arts, Nina Lohman, the founder of the nonprofit hybrid literary journal Brink. She’s also Mission Creek’s literary director.
“We want to draw attention to the culture that is already here,” Lohman said in the news release. “Bringing together friends and community around good food and bold art feels like an Iowa City tradition.”
What to expect from Iowa City’s Day Party
Building on Iowa City’s legacy for arts and creativity, Day Party hopes to provide a place “where writers and artists can tell stories across various modes, such as film, sound, and installation,” Lohman said.
The lineup of bands, chefs, multidisciplinary artists, and writers hails mostly from Iowa, but also features a few visiting artists, including Sima Cunningham and Sam Prekop.
Cunningham is a co-founder of the experimental indie-rock band, Finom, and in 2024 released her first solo album, “High Roller.”
Prekop is best known for his pioneering work in the dance electronic scene. He will perform a solo set of synthesizer and electronic works.
Salt Lake City writer Nora Lange will appear on the heels of her new book, “Day Care,” a collection of satiric stories exploring womanhood and motherhood.
A slew of Iowa City artists also join Day Party’s lineup, including jazz-experimental ensemble Freegrass featuring singer Alyx Rush, and art-rockers Younger, who will release their forthcoming album at the festival.
Conversations with authors and screenwriters include Rachel Yoder and Laura Conway, as well as filmmaker Auden Lincoln-Vogel, who will debut an Iowa City-based work-in-progress film.
Eat your way through a Day Party
Food, an underrated artistic discipline, is central to Day Party. The event will feature the work of several local chefs, including Trumpet Blossom Café’s Katy Meyer, Plated Table’s Alex Smith, Snacky Mini Mart’s Sandy and Vivian Pei, Mazee’s Food Truck’s Dolly Sperry, and Lambs Quarters Livestock’s Pete Kerns.
The new event embraces the heart of a Saturday through a variety of genres.
“Day Party embodies the magic of finding new art, friends, and community during the daylight hours of a late-spring weekend in Iowa City,” Perry said. “We are embracing Iowan and Midwestern creativity: our musicians, artists, and chefs.”
How to get tickets to Day Party
Day Party passes are on sale through Thursday, March 26. Single-day passes are available online for a discounted rate. General admission tickets cost $25, and student tickets cost $15.
Starting Friday, March 27, general admission passes will rise to $35 and student tickets to $20.
The full Day Party schedule will be released in March.
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @rishjessica_
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City’s Mission Creek Festival to host Day Party event. What to know
Reporting by Jessica Rish, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
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