The event is Sept. 5-6.
There are no pre-sale tickets this year. Passes will only be sold at the door, a move organizers say puts more money directly into bands’ pockets.
Dayton Music Fest 2025 is sponsored by Glasshouse Realty, Canal Street Arcade and Deli, @937stagefront, and Wolf’s Ridge Brewing, with promotional sponsorship from WYSO, Novaphonic.fm, and Merkaba Event Production.
This year’s lineup blends rising talent with established acts, but the focus is clear: most of the 27 featured performers are drawn straight from Dayton’s scene, with genre-spanning bills that stretch from rock and rap to metal, electronica, and R&B.
“This year, I really wanted to make sure that it was a showcase of Dayton bands that are playing in town regularly, that are a part of the scene,” said Paige Beller, one of DMF’s organizers this year, along with Blind Bob’s booker, Brandon Hawk. “There’s just so much here, and it seemed like the ideal choice to keep it very Dayton-based.”
Music this year includes: The Heisey Glass Co., Blanch Robinson, Heather Redman & The Reputation, Melina Marie, DOS.GRANDIOSE, The Fotons, Kellen Williams, Gardener, and Moontemple. The full lineup can be found at daytonmusicfest.com.
When she was younger, Beller said hopping from bar to bar at Dayton Music Fest helped her find new music when she first moved to town. DMF was a catalyst to discover local bands to either play with or go see later. Beller is hoping to continue that exploratory appeal of the festival with this year’s lineup.
A strong DIY spirit runs through the lineup, since so much of Dayton’s music scene is built from the ground up. Locally, mini music and art fests, like Art Parkd and the Rong Bros Brunch Bash, as well as house show pop-ups are about putting on shows on your own terms. DMF bands like Basura, Good Soup, crabswithoutlegs, and Sheller often show up on those bills.
“A big factor in me looking at bands was who is active in that DIY scene,” Beller said. “There are a ton of little pockets of people doing their own stuff, putting together these shows, putting together these benefits, and just doing art for the sake of doing art. That’s important to showcase, especially in terms of it being Dayton Music Fest. There were obvious choices of people out there really pushing their craft, and being part of the community. That is Dayton music, that spirit of DIY.”
Dayton Music Fest proudly carries the name of the city it represents. This year’s festival gets back to a simpler vision: the thrill of discovery. The way the venue lineups are designed, Beller said, the hope is that festival goers will stumble onto sounds they wouldn’t normally seek out. With mixed genres filling each stage, people are encouraged to linger, explore new bars, and walk away with something unexpected.
That sense of discovery has always been at the heart of Dayton Music Fest.
Contact local music scene writer Brandon Berry at branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Dayton Music Fest
When: 6 p.m. Sept. 5-6
Where: Yellow Cab Tavern, Blind Bob’s, Oregon Express, Trolley Stop, The Brightside (Friday only)
Cost: $10 per venue; $15 all venues, per day; $25 all venues, both days
About the Author
