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Schedule:
Thursday, Sept. 10
» Opening Night Party at 7 p.m., $5
Friday, Sept. 11:
» Dan Zanes And Friends at 12 p.m.
» Brasil Guitar Duo at 3 p.m.
» Tune In And Tune Up at 4 p.m.
» The Jerry Douglas Band at 5 p.m.
» Morning And Evening Ragas: Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya at 6:15 p.m.
» The Long Count at7 p.m., $8-$30
» A Story Of Floating Weeds With Live Music By Alex De Grassi at 8:30 p.m.
» Keb’ Mo’ Band at 10 p.m., $23-$45
» Afterglow: The Sisters Euclid at 11:15 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12
» Yoga at 8:30 a.m.
» Morning And Evening Ragas: Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya at 9 a.m.
» Bachfest at 10 a.m., $8-$30
» Tune In And Tune Up at 11 a.m.
» Natalia Zukerman And Erin McKeown at 12 p.m
» Jake Hertzog Trio With Harvie S And Victor Jones at 1 p.m.
» Garageband at 2 p.m.
» Bill Frisell’s Disfarmer Project: Musical Portraits From Heber
» Springs at 2 p.m., $8-$30
» Brazilian Bash at 3:30 p.m., $18-$34
» Garageband at 4 p.m.
» Richard Julian And Jim Campilongo at 6 p.m.
» Ani Difranco at 7 p.m., $18-$38
» The Goddess With Live Music By The Leni Stern Quartet at 8:30 p.m.
» The National at 10 p.m., $12-$28
» Laurie Morvan Band at 11:30 p.m.

For more info and event descriptions, visit http://www.walltowallguitar.com

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See More About these Events

Ellnora Opening Night Party »

• Event has already occurred
• Krannert Center for the Performing Arts »
  500 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
  (Show on map)

ELLNORA Afterglow: The Sisters Euclid »

• Event has already occurred
• Krannert Center for the Performing Arts »
  500 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
  (Show on map)

ELLNORA: Bachfest »

• Event has already occurred
• Krannert Center for the Performing Arts »
  500 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
  (Show on map)

ELLNORA Interval: Natalia Zukerman and Erin McKeown »

• Event has already occurred
• Krannert Center for the Performing Arts »
  500 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
  (Show on map)

ELLNORA Interval: Jake Herzog Trio with Harvie S and Victor Jones »

• Event has already occurred
• Krannert Center for the Performing Arts »
  500 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
  (Show on map)

Formerly called the Wall-to-Wall Guitar Festival, this year’s Ellnora: The Guitar Festival is sure to please. Accordingly, the festival will feature over 30 guitarists, 11 free performances, and the global styles of “all things guitar.”

Many of you may be wondering why the event name has changed this year. Bridget Lee-Calfas, Public Information Director at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, explained that Ellnora was the name of Mrs. Krannert, who, with her husband, funded the building of the center in the 1960’s. “She had envisioned the lobby of the center as a place for people to mix and mingle and cross-pollinate the arts. Since so much of this festival takes place in the lobby, we wanted to honor her that way.”

The festival will run from Sept. 10 to Sept. 12 at the Krannert Center with events virtually around the clock. On Friday and Saturday night, there are Afterglow events starting at 11:15 p.m. and events on Saturday start bright and early with 8:30 a.m. Yoga in the lobby, followed by Morning Raga with Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya.

What is unique about this festival, compared to other guitar or music festivals, is the mix. “It’s not just rock, not just folk, not just classical,” Lee-Calfas said.

One exciting feature is the new focus on multimedia events. On Friday, The Long Count will perform “an hour-long phenomenon” with narrative, set, and film featuring music by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. The weekend will also have two showings of Asian silent films from 1934 accompanied by live musicians outside in the Amphitheatre.

All types and kinds of rock, indie, blues, Latin and country will be represented throughout the weekend. Some stand-outs include the Keb’ Mo’ Band at the Tryon Festival Theatre on Friday, the Jerry Douglas Band playing country and bluegrass in the lobby on Friday, and The Sisters Euclid playing “earthy, challenging jazz-rock” on Friday at Stage 5.

For performers, there will be a workshop on how to prevent injury and increase endurance while playing and a GarageBand workshop on how to use the program to record and mix your own compositions.

The most exciting aspect of this festival is the amount of free material. According to Lee-Calfas, the festival has doubled the amount of free shows since 2007. “The caliber of the free shows is every bit as high as the ticketed shows,” she says. Most of these wallet-friendly events will take place in the lobby.

Forgo the bars this weekend. Pay a visit to the Krannert Center and hang out, listen to some amazing music, grab a coffee at the Intermezzo Café, and make a day of it.