The WonderBus Music & Arts Festival returns to The Lawn at CAS in Columbus this summer with three days of music.
WonderBus 2022 headliners include Duran Duran (Friday 8/26), Lorde (Saturday 8/27) and The Lumineers (Sunday 8/28).
Duran Duran, recently nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, last played Columbus in 2008. This will be the band’s first appearance in Ohio in about a decade. Annie Zaleski, Ohio-based journalist recounted the trailer for the 1982 LP act, Rio in a recent book.
Lorde’s last performance in Columbus came about four years ago, and WonderBus marks his only scheduled appearance in Ohio in 2022.
The Lumineers, who will embark on their most ambitious tour yet this summer, last appeared in Columbus just before the pandemic.
Additional acts throughout the three-day event will include Young The Giant, James Bay, Coin, Max, Cautious Clay, Beach Bunny, Meg Myers, Daisy The Great, The Knocks, Cannons, Neal Francis and more. Ohio artists will be well represented by 90’s Kids, Cousin Simple, .wavrunner, The Orphan The Poet and Detention.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and Nationwide Children’s Hospital and On Our Sleeves®, the Movement for Children’s Mental Health.
“CAS is proud to welcome back the WonderBus this summer on The Lawn at CAS,” CAS Vice President Dr. Michael Dennis said in a press release. Duran Duran and more. WonderBus isn’t just an amazing music festival, it’s a platform to talk about mental health and give us all hope and resilience.”
WonderBus started in Columbus in 2019 with a purpose deeper than music. The organizers wanted to advance the conversation about mental health and suicide. Like many things in 2020, the pandemic caused the festival to go on hiatus. WonderBus returned last year with an even greater focus on mental health.
Dr. K. Luan Phan is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
“Adversities and stressors have been magnified, so we have to think about all aspects of a person’s or patient’s life when we meet them,” Dr. Phan told me last year. “It’s not just the typical stuff. It’s complicated by the fact that people don’t know how to reconnect, people don’t know how to do well in school or at work. Bring this challenge that we have as suppliers. be as broad as possible and ask as many questions about how the pandemic has affected different types of people. There are so many individual differences in how we are responding to the pandemic.”
While COVID-19 cases have dropped recently and safety protocols are starting to ease, mental health needs to be a priority according to Phan.
“Now more than ever, as we prepare to live through the third year of this global pandemic, we must continue to build resilience in our communities,” Phan said in a press release for WonderBus 2022. “People are hurting. We are grateful that the WonderBus festival, with its wonderful lineup of world-class musicians, continues to support our efforts to help people struggling with addiction, anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.”
Conversations about mental health are happening more frequently, according to Rick Milenthal, founder and CEO of Columbus-based marketing company The Shipyard, one of the festival’s partners.
“I haven’t had a conversation where someone hasn’t told me this affects them,” Milenthal said of mental health ahead of the 2021 event. “I think we’re talking about it more now. The reason Shipyard got involved in this is because we are in the business of words, and words are important in mental health. The way we communicate is important. You can inspire or you can divide. You can lift morale, or you can demoralize. My biggest message is that pretty much everyone you see is dealing with a mental health challenge, whether it’s personally or with a loved one or a friend. So I’m telling you, I don’t feel alone.”
Elevation Festivals owns, produces and presents WonderBus and its sister festival WonderStruck in Cleveland.
“During one of the most challenging times of our lives, 2021 turned out to be a very successful year for WonderBus,” reflected Elevation Festivals President Denny Young. “In recognition of the tremendous energy surrounding the festival, we are committed to building on this momentum and are now extremely proud to present The Lumineers, Lorde and Duran Duran in what will be a grand and epic weekend for all of Ohio.”
Tickets for WonderBus 2022 go on sale this Saturday, February 26 at WonderBusfest.com and SeeTickets.us.
WonderBus Music and Arts Festival
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