The InCuya Festival came out of nowhere. When AEG Presents announced its first-ever lineup in April, we were shocked. Not just because the festival had popular mainstream artists set to take the stage, but because they were doing it on Malls B and C — an area that has been underutilized for as long as we can remember. We rocked out at the first day of the festival to see if it would live up to the hype. Here are three things we loved from Day One.
Local love
With national bands Sza and New Order spotlighting the lineup, it would have been easy to let local bands get forgotten in the shuffle. But popular Cleveland bands such as The Modern Electric, Seafair and Ezri pulled hefty crowds at the smaller Lake Stage that matched up with or at times exceeded the larger City Stage, which showcased the national acts and headliners. Around 75 to 100 people crowded up to the stage while 30 or so lounged on blankets in the grass. Seafair even earned a screaming round of applause when they announced their single release at Mahall’s 20 Lanes Sept. 15. We know Cleveland’s music scene rocks, but seeing it get the time and attention it deserved made the festival feel even closer to home.
Grub hub
You know what you’re in for at music festivals – greasy, expensive fried foods. But InCuya stepped it up and took full advantage of Cleveland’s dining-on-wheels scene. Six food trucks line the left side of the Malls. The Funky Truckeria, Betty’s Bomb Ass Burgers, Wild Spork and more served concert-goers through their windows. But even some of Cleveland truckless go-to spots came through such as The Plum and Ohio City Provisions.
The perfect selfie stations
Clevelanders are spoiled with the best spots to snap a good selfie. Destination Cleveland’s #ThisisCLE and script Cleveland signs throughout the city make the perfect backdrops. But we loved Incuya’s version of their own sign – giant blue and orange letters to spell out InCuya located at the very back of the Malls with Lake Erie and part of FirstEnergy Stadium in the background. We’ll admit we took our selfies there, but so did everyone else at the festival making it almost as popular as the music.
