SORRY KIDS - NO MXMW for 2003. This is a loosely run volunteer event and we have too many other committments this year.... Such as LYSISTRATA

Fest Donates $3,351.82 to Area Food Banks!

Thanks to the enthusiasm of Detroit music fans, and the generosity of Detroit's musical community, this year's fest was able to donate over $3,000 to Gleaners Community Food Bank and The Food Bank of Oakland County.

Thanks, New Detroit!

For more details, see the Financials section.

Cinci MXMW Changes Name, Too!

The Cincinnati-based music conferenece which had taken the name MXMW after being told that we were already using it has changed its name!

We were notified late last week that these folks were no longer using the name MXMW. Sho' 'nuff, take a look at their site and you'll see that they've become the MPMF or something like that.

Right on, MPMF!

Photos Posted from 2002 Fest!

We just posted a healthy batch of festival photos to the site. See the 2002 Photos & Schedule page.

Original Festival Name Change News Story (note: please also see news update above)

The MXMW that you know and love is changing its name! It's a long story. To make a long story short:

Shortly after staging our first MXMW, festival orgainzer Neil Yee was contacted by some folks from Cincinnati who asked him if they could buy the mxmw.com web address. They wanted the name so they could stage a music fest in Ohio called MXMW.

Neil said thanks but no thanks, and explained that there was already a MXMW festival held here in Detroit.

Upon hearing this, the Cinci folks went and registered MXMW Cincinnati for their own use, and put up a web page at mxmw.org trumpeting their upcoming music fest.

We kind of figured, you know, whatever... it's hard to come up with a festival name (MXMW itself being sort of a tonue in cheek joke) and anyway, if it ever went to court we'd have a good shot since we've already established prior use of the name.

But THEN we received a letter from the folks who run SXSW / NXNW, purely by accident, as it was addressed to the president of the Cincinnati MXMW. The letter more or less requests that the Cinci MXMW discontinues its use of the name MXMW due to its similarities to the names SXSW and NXNW.

You can read the letter in its entirety by clicking here.

Unlike the Cincinnati MXMW, a battle with SXSW and NXNW is one that we probably couldn't win. To that end, we've decided that if our festival takes place again next year, it will have to happen under a different name.

In the meantime, feel free to call us The Fest with No Name, The Festival formerly Known as MXMW, or simply The Festival.

The Cincinnati MXMW folks have indicated to us that they will continue to use the name MXMW Cincinnati.

It was bound to happen sooner or later... then it did!

Then it happened again.

...but it won't be happening for 2003. Maybe again some other year? Check out LYSISTRATA

The Festival Formerly Known as The Mid by Midwest music festival is organized for and by the Detroit music community. It takes place in the heart of the Detroit music scene, and exactly half of the event's net proceeds go to an area charity. The other half of the proceeds is offered back to the artists who make the event possible, though many of the participating musicians opt to add their pay to the overall donation.

In 2001, The Festival Soon to be Known as Something Other Than MXMW donated nearly four thousand dollars to HAVEN, an organization that provides shelter and assistance to abused women in Southeast Michigan.

Because of its homegrown roots, and because so many associated businesses generously donate their services to make the event a reality, The Festival Formerly Known as MXMW has almost no overhead. And because The Fest That Currently Has No Name but Was Once Called MXMW makes its receipt numbers available to everyone, both artists and audiences can see exactly where their money goes.

The Festival Formerly Known as MXMW was founded by a group of Detroit musicians, club owners, promoters and fans who felt a growing dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Metro Times chooses to handle its Blowout event. Some of these musicians felt that the Detroit Music Awards (the Blowout's sole charity beneficiary up until 2002) was an archaic institution, out of touch with the real and vital core of Detroit's music community. Others became disillusioned when they realized that the Blowout's prime financial beneficiary was the Metro Times itself, a commercial entity that garners revenue through the weekly sale of advertisements. In 2001, The Festival Soon to be Known as Something Other Than MXMW donated nearly four thousand dollars to HAVEN, an organization that provides shelter and assistance to abused women in Southeast Michigan.
Contact The Festival

Graphics - Tom Deja for Bossman Graphics
Layout - J. Frezzatto for Octane Grandé