New ‘fusions’ part of 2024 Tri Town Get Down music festival. Sneak peek at what they are

In its inaugural year in 2023, the then-called Uptown Get Down music festival sold out tickets to the one-day event headlined by Afroman. With just a couple months to go until the next Get Down, the festival has expanded in many facets.

“Get Down” has grown in size, with more artists and venues this year, and in duration, spanning multiple days, from June 7 to 9. The performers have more monthly streams on Spotify than last years’ as well.

But perhaps the biggest change is the introduction of fusions. Named in a nod to the nuclear history of the area, fusions at the now-named Tri Town Get Down 2024 will act as mini-festivals showcasing what makes Tri-Cities what it is.

“At Tri Town Get Down not only do atoms come together, our community comes together,” states a festival press release.

There will be six fusions: Ferment, Food, Latin, Farm, STEM and Industry, each included with a festival wristband.

First fusion at Tri Town Get Down

It all started with the Latin Fusion, an homage to the Latine community in Tri-Cities. When founder Caleb Brown spoke with the Herald before the inaugural festival, he said the one thing he thought was missing from the lineup was music to represent the Latine community.

A big part of the local music scene in eastern Washington is a mix of musical culture across Latin America, including bandas, which are bands usually made of fast-paced horns and drums with the flavorings of traditional regional Mexican music, as well as reggaeton, a dance genre that combines reggae rhythms with hip-hop structure and various other influences, plus Latin pop and other genres in Spanish. While Brown hoped to feature musicians from these genres at Uptown Get Down, he wasn’t able to make it happen.

So in the following year, he brought on another staff member who could better reach our Latine musicians, Alyssa Nogales. She’s secured the lineup for the fusion, and has put together the mini-festival featuring regional bands, local vendors and food and drinks from 3 Margaritas. There are even plans for a “spicy pepper gauntlet for the brave.”

Before this, Nogales worked around the entertainment industry, but running the Fusion entirely has been a growing experience, she said in a statement to the Herald. She wants to thank the festival team for believing in her and supporting her through the learning process.

“The significance is not just being part of an industry I love, but it has given me the opportunity to connect with my roots,” Nogales said when asked about what running the Fusion means to her. “I was always the white-xican prima in my family. I have messag[ed] my dad throughout this whole process double checking my Spanish grammar, and leaning back on the music he listened to in my childhood to help curate a lineup that encompasses the multi-faceted genres of the Latin culture.”

The Fusion will be family-friendly, with activities for all ages and Latin artisan vendor booths on top of the live music.

“The Tri-Cities has a vibrant Latinx community,” Nogales stated in an email to the Herald. “It’s important to give kudos to the culture that makes up a majority of our population; agriculture and migrant workers play a huge part of our history and current way of life. My desire is just to highlight what they have already created: from food to music to dance to art y más.”

Food, Ferment Fusions at the festival

Once the concept for a “fusion” was cemented, Brown wanted to include more, to fully showcase all of the elements at play in Tri-Cities. Sitting right next to the Yakima Valley, where the vast majority of the country’s hops come from, and in the Columbia Valley, which has fantastic wine grapes, Brown felt it was important to showcase the drinks that flow in the Tri-Cities.

The Ferment Fusion recognizes the brewers, distillers, vineyards and cideries that are abundant in Tri-Cities. Like a bar crawl spanning the festival area, festival ticket-holders will get a digital map of participating venues. They can check in at as many establishments as they’d like throughout the festival, enjoy the array of local options and take advantage of any special deals.

All liquor laws will still apply, meaning you will not be able to walk around with your drinks between venues.

From there, it was an obvious move to do the same with the many restaurants in the area. The Food Fusion will operate similarly to the Ferment Fusion, offering a follow-along map of food options around the festival. Once you’ve seen a few bands, you can walk down to participating bars and restaurants with ease, then return back for more music.

Both the Food and Ferment Fusion are organized by Dara Quinn, who runs and owns The Emerald of Siam. Any food or drink vendor in the festival vicinity is welcome to take part in the Fusion. Secure a spot by emailing vendors@unleashedentertainment.org.

Three more fusions at the festival

But this didn’t feel like enough recognition for our local growers. Agriculture is a large part of eastern Washington. Our crops are used across the country, some across the world, and the agricultural sector constitutes much of our job force.

The Farmers Fusion will showcase the driving force of Tri-Cities agriculture with a giant farmers market. It’ll be the largest farmers market in town, with a full petting zoo, live music and family-friendly environment. Sponsored by Yakima Federal, the Farmers Fusion at Howard Amon Park will include goods from local growers and other vendors that can be purchased by festival attendees.

Currently, the plan is for the Farmers Fusion to be free to attend, no festival ticket required.

Another important element of Tri-Cities is the innovation, the contributions of STEM leaders. With so many high-profile STEM opportunities here, like Hanford, PNNL and Energy Northwest, Tri-Cities is known for its high concentration of engineers in the workforce.

To showcase the STEM contributions here, the STEM Fusion at Fuse will serve as a giant science fair with demonstrations for all ages. There will be interactive experiments, panels and workshops, a giant hack-a-thon, giant bubbles and an egg drop with a $100 prize.

The final Fusion represents the growing music scene in Tri-Cities, reemerging from its former ‘90s glory. With so many up and coming artists in the area, the Industry Fusion will serve as a networking event for those in the music industry, whether as an artist, in management, media or other aspects. A networking event will be held at The Emerald of Siam each day of the festival, with no festival ticket requirement for access. Additionally, there will be panels at Richland Players led by industry experts on topics like artist management, staying creative through artist blocks and handling media coverage.

Tickets are still available online for the music festival, which sold out last year.

Right now, general admission tickets are $150 for a three-day pass and $75 for a single day. General admission tickets get you to every stage and fusion. VIP tickets and after party tickets are also available, as well as deals for groups.