Hiking in the morning and seeing live music in the evening is our idea of a perfect day. The Dragonfly Music Festival is hoping that Sedona residents will feel the same way. The festival features five days of music. From Friday through Saturday starting at 8 a.m., festival-goers can hike three to six miles on Sedona’s stunning trails with some of the musicians who will be performing later in the day. “The mantra is, ‘hike by day, music by night.’ But it’s also artists from all over the world gathering for five days of music, hiking and fun,” says Kenneth Rexrode, creator and producer of the Dragonfly Music Festival.
Kenneth has quite a history with Sedona. He was slated to put on a performance in Sedona in the spring of 2020. After that was canceled due to the pandemic, he rescheduled for three performances in June of 2021. When someone called asking for tickets and called the three shows “a festival,” Kenneth decided to actually put one together. And the Dragonfly Music Festival was born. As far as what to expect music-wise, anticipate a healthy variety. “It’s blues. It’s rock. It’s jazz. I’ve got the best boogie-woogie piano player in the world come in. His name is Henri Herbert. He’s from the U.K. He lives in Austin now,” says Kenneth. Other musicians performing include Daring Greatly (Kenneth says they have a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young vibe), Julia Othmer and Whitney Shay. Kenneth says one unique aspect of the festival is its intimacy. The venues the musicians are performing in are smaller. Many of the musicians will perform two or three times. Attendees can even hike with some of the musicians in the morning.
“It’s a different experience,” says Kenneth. “It’s a chance to see all of these people gathering for five days in Sedona, and what’s going to happen, is never going to happen again, the same way. So it’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a part of it.” Above all, look forward to a celebration of music and Sedona. “I think to marry music with being outdoors and hiking, there’s simply no better place than Sedona,” says Kenneth. “The music matches the beauty of it.” − Teresa K. Traverse
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