This year’s HomeGrown Live Music Festival attracted 1,800 attendees, a record turnout for the one day music festival.
The annual festival is in support of the Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library (Joe’s M.I.L.L.). Joe’s M.I.L.L. was established after the young musician passed away unexpectedly on May 1, 1999. Fulfilling his vision of making music accessible to all, the library has 1,300 instruments available for borrowing.
This year’s HomeGrown lineup included over 145 acts at 17 venues, with over 400 individual local musicians donating their time to support the library. The grand total for the non-profit’s largest fundraiser of the year was $15,400.
“Whenever I speak and I talk about Joe’s M.I.L.L., I get loud applause,” said Denis Leroux, President of Joe’s M.I.L.L.. “I think people think and know what a cool place it is and how cool it is to have a musical instrument library. You just don’t see that anywhere else.”
