Music at the Intersection is expanding this year’s festival with a fourth main stage and a longer conference over multiple days as it marks its five-year milestone.
The festival, now known as MATI, announced the full schedule and festival map on Thursday, August 7. Sophie’s Artist Lounge will host a main stage along with the Big Top, the Sovereign and the Field Stage. Main stage performances begin at 5 p.m. Sept. 12, 3 p.m. Sept. 13 and 2 p.m. Sept. 14.
Main stage headliners include three-time Grammy winning rapper Common with super producer Pete Rock, soul legend Patti LaBelle, New Orleans R&B singer-songwriter Lucky Daye, neo-soul R&B singer-producer Leon Thomas, legendary hip-hop group De La Soul, and jazz great Branford Marsalis.
More than 100 artists will grace the 19 MATI stages and venues over the course of the festival.
The additional main stage is just the latest change to the annual festival. Organizers announced earlier this year that it would spread this year’s conference across the weekend instead of just Friday like previous festivals. Conference panels, hosted at the .Zack, are aimed at helping local artists learn about the music industry, network with industry leaders and other artists and develop their craft.
“MATI stands for more than Music at the Intersection,” said Chris Hansen, Executive Director of Kranzberg Arts Foundation. “Especially for the conference portion of the weekend, programming and speakers are strategically centered around Music, Art, Thought and Innovation. This year features new panel topics, heavy-hitting keynotes, and the opportunity for attendees to interact directly with industry influencers.”
The conference portion of MATI, previously held on Friday, is now part of MATI Places and spread throughout the weekend, allowing attendees (musicians, entrepreneurs, creative professionals and more) to sprinkle learning, discovery – and freely exploring Midtown – into their music festival schedule. Conference programming is presented in collaboration with the Recording Academy and Evntiv.
Friday’s conference panels include a focus on entrepreneurship, corporate building and social media and podcast strategy to promote music. Some sessions will be led by Arch Grants as well as former Carnival Cruise Line CEO Arnold Donald.
Saturday’s conference will include sessions on video content creation, the history of hip-hop and social activism as well as a session led by the Recording Academy on how to sustain success in the music industry.
“We’re providing resources to artists while building capacity and attracting industry – all embedded within a fun weekend of world-class music,” Hansen said.
Local community groups including Poetry in Motion, Frizz Fest and Black Quilters Association will host events at various festival venues throughout the weekend. Artists arts’ collectives including Laz Jazz and S.L.U.M. Fest will curate arts events during the weekend. Locations include the High Low, Hidden Gems, Scene, Strauss Park, Harris-Stowe Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, KAF Art Yard and Sophie’s Artist Lounge. Organizers also say this year’s event will prioritize tornado relief efforts with donation tents throughout the event and donate $10 from each pass sold to the North St. Louis community organization 4theVille.
“We wanted to directly impact one of the organizations on the ground that are doing the good work, helping their community before the tornado, through the tornado, and will be there on the ground with them in the future,” Hansen said.
The festival is also designing benefit T-shirts honoring Tina Turner, with proceeds to benefit 4theVille.
For more information, to view the full schedule or to purchase tickets for MATI 2025, visit matistl.org.
Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.
