Chill Fire Music and Arts Festival debuts
Created by New Eagle native Allan Howard, it will continue today at Tubby Hall Park.
The Chill Fire Music and Arts Festival, organized by New Eagle native Allan Howard to spotlight positivity and creativity in music and art, made its debut Friday at Tubby Hall Park and will continue today.
“I love music and I love going to festivals,” Howard said. “I went to Pyro Music Festival the past couple years, and it inspired me to (think) I could throw an event, and I wanted to bring that back into my community, the things that I love and enjoy.”
The festival ran from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, featuring five bands in addition to several vendors selling a variety of artwork and other items. The times will be the same today with a mix of returning artists from Friday and some unique ones. Admission costs $10 per person.
Howard bills the event as promoting “peace, love and unity in the community.” A few dozen people hung out at the event Friday afternoon to check out the vendors and listen to the music.
Trevor Murray, an artist from Butler, manned a booth selling his artwork. He’s also the bass player for the Perishables, a band that played Friday evening.
Murray’s work merges abstract paint-splattered backgrounds with more realistic images in the foreground. He enjoyed having a booth at the event and said he got some attention for his artwork.
Horizon Eye, a duo based in Akron, Ohio, played a mixture of acoustic and electric music with meditative vibes. Shirtless, tattooed, bearded and beaming, Howard walked around the festival with his dogs and girlfriend and cheered on the band.
“I just wanted people’s creative sides. I didn’t want pre-made stuff,” Howard said. “I wanted it to be very, people put themselves into the work. And if I had a bunch of people who put themselves into their work, then that’s going to create a better atmosphere for the event.
“It’s going to feel less commercial and more safe and intimate, and you actually get to meet artists and maybe get inspired.”
Howard said the festival was inspired because he felt listless and wanted to do something more with his life. A desire to expand his horizons sparked him to start the festival.
“I feel like there’s something more out there, you know?” Howard said. “There’s no way that this is my existence, just waking up, going to work, coming home, and rinse, wash and repeat. I just felt like there was more out there, and I wanted to do something.”
His girlfriend, Jessica Hitchens of New Eagle, welcomed people into the event and helped Howard with the organizing. It came after about nine challenging months of planning, she said.
“He makes his dreams reality, and not everybody does that,” Hitchens said.
Amid various kinds of hardship, Howard wanted to give the community a chance to channel its energy into something good.
“Healing is for everybody, you know what I mean?” Howard said. “I just wanted to have people come down and see what it’s all about and maybe become inspired and do their own thing, you know? It’s very intimate.”
“It’s going to feel less commercial and more safe and intimate, and you actually get to meet artists and maybe get inspired.”
ALLAN HOWARD
