Downtown Moline will be rocking for a big birthday, from Thursday, Aug. 25 to Saturday Aug. 27, with nearly 20 bands taking part in a new music and arts street festival.

Headliners on the MidAmerican Energy main stage will be Galactic, Celisse, Pokey LaFarge, Lissie, The Way Down Wanderers and Bando Cerro Azul. The Moline 150 Sesquicentennial bash is presented and sponsored by John Deere.

Rock Island native Lissie Maurus is among the musical lineup for the downtown Moline festival, Aug. 25-27.

Moline was formally incorporated as a city by voters in 1872, and it’s this 150th anniversary that will be honored this summer. Festival grounds will be between 12th and 15th streets on River Drive, with the Main Stage located under the TaxSlayer Center skybridge.

In addition to the headlining acts, the following regional bands are scheduled to appear — Mountain Swallower, Electric Shock, Jason Carl’s Tom Petty Tribute, Lewis Knudsen, Group Innstinto, the Forty Twos, Logan Spring & The Wonderfully Wild, Smooth Groove, Blues Rock-It, Crooked Cactus, Piso’s Cure and CJ Parker & XII. View the complete lineup HERE.

Lewis Knudsen of Rock Island is among the local performers in the festival schedule.

Here is a little more about the headliners:

  • Galactic is a New Orleans-based ensemble that plays an exciting blend of funk, pop, R&B, jazz and hip hop. They are fronted by Anjelika Jelly Joseph, a former “American Idol” contestant who recently toured with Grammy-nominated Tank and the Bangers.
  • Celisse is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, performer and spoken word artist who has played with many notable musicians including Mariah Carey, Graham Nash and Melissa Etheridge. She is a founding member of Trey Anastasio’s Ghost of the Forest.
  • Pokey LaFarge was born in nearby Bloomington, Ill., but cut his musical teeth as an itinerant musician playing street corners, bus stops and other public spaces across the country. Now based in Los Angeles, he brings a mix of Americana, old-time country, blues, folk and Western swing to the stage.
  • Lissie is very familiar to Quad Cities audiences. A Rock Island native, she moved to Los Angeles in her early 20s and embarked on a musical career spanning four albums and countless sold-out concerts. She now lives on a farm in Iowa, but still delights with her mix of rock and folk-pop.
  • The Way Down Wanderers are another regional favorite, hailing from down Interstate 74 in Peoria. They play a quirky style of modern bluegrass and roots-pop.
  • Banda Cerro Azul will highlight the Friday night main stage takeover by Mercado on Fifth. They are a wildly popular Chicago-based traditional mariachi band with a full complement of brass.

A full daily schedule for the festival – including other local acts on our community stage – will be announced later in July and added to the Moline 150 website.