As Saturday, July 25, dawned, the Eaux Claires festival landscape shifted toward overcast skies and a notable uptick in humidity. Yet, this didn’t dampen the spirits of our neighbors or the global travelers who descended upon the Carson Park grounds for day two – many ready to mosh and celebrate as the gates opened to a performance by gash around noon.

From baseball field to football stadium stages, the sound waves quickly surged once more with a 12:45pm Gully Boys set, where even the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre puppeteers found themselves dancing among the crowd to the best punk rock Minneapolis has to offer.

Known MPLS and Revelation (A Retrospective of the Minneapolis Sound) – one of many acts which made the trip over from Minneapolis – gave festivalgoers a glimpse of the musical possibilities thriving just across state lines.

If you too wandered off the obvious musical stages, one could find smiles for what miles from the Eaux Claires food vendors: Karl's Bar-B-Q Express, Egg Rolls Plus, Valley Burger and Dolce Ragazzi were among the fold of local eateries represented at Carson Park.

Even further, the Chippewa Valley Museum’s grounds were fertile with creative talent. From Writers In Residence workshops to snowplow musings (with plenty of laughter over memories of Wisconsin winters), musical re-imaginings via Ben Holmen’s “Halfmoon Chimes” and sweet scoops of ice cream from the museum’s vintage-inspired parlor. 

Back in one of the baseball dugouts, attendees had the chance to archive their own festival reflections and first memories of their time in Eau Claire via Erik Elstran’s “Eaux Claire Time Machine.”

The final night of Eaux Claires' return would not have been complete without an extra dose of surprise – this year including the return of festival veteran Francis and the Lights for a 10-minute setlist, whose spins and twirls matched the dancing crowd.

As for the remaining Eaux Claires happenings – specifics of that much-anticipated Dijon performance and more exchanges with the Chippewa Valley’s literary and creative minds – you’ll have to peruse through our Saturday festival highlight to get in on the nitty-gritty.