Waking Windows Music and Arts Festival to Return for a 12th Year

Waking Windows Credit: Brian Jenkins Photography

The music and arts booking collective Waking Windows announced on Thursday the return of its flagship annual festival. Now in its 12th year, the Waking Windows fest will take over downtown Winooski from May 3 to 5, featuring more than 100 artists across multiple venues, including restaurants, wine shops, breweries and pop-ups.

The collective, run by Brian and Ali Nagle, Paddy Reagan, Matt Rogers, and Nick Mavodones, launched the fest in 2011, when it was held entirely at the Monkey House. Over the years, it grew steadily in size as the promoters brought together a massive amount of local talent with underground and indie bands from out of state, such as Pond, Japanese Breakfast, Kikagaku Moyo and Dinosaur Jr. All the while, Waking Windows was spreading out downtown, including to an outdoor Main Stage and another stage set up in Winooski’s Rotary Park.

Kikagaku Moyo at Waking Windows Credit: Courtesy of BDL Photography

After taking a two-year hiatus in 2020 and 2021, the festival returned to celebrate a belated 10th anniversary in 2022 with a slimmed-down lineup, a trend that continued the following year.

While no acts have yet been announced, the scope of this year’s lineup will be similar to that of the past two years. According to a press release, “it’ll be smaller in scale, similar to 2023.” Also: “We have some great artists lined up and all (y)our friends will be there.”

For more information, visit wakingwindows.com.