Harper Heston

Hinterland University Student

Hinterland University was such an amazing experience, and I'm so grateful that SCOPE was able to give this opportunity to its members. Throughout the four-day festival, we got to experience panels with professionals in the industry like artist managers and agents, festival directors, and production and graphic design specialists! We also got Media passes and VIP access, making for an even more awesome experience. I learned so much about the industry and how to network and build connections, as well as how many moving parts go into an event like that. As SCOPE's development director, I can't wait to further these connections and knowledge to better SCOPE and myself!

Caylie James

Hinterland Attendee

Hinterland 2026 felt like a Midwest girl’s dreamland! Truly there was an artist for everyone with all the different tastes in music. In contrast to previous years, I thought the weather was great majority of the weekend, seeing Lorde in the pouring rain actually healed my soul. For how big of a production Hinterland is, it always seems like just a small festival in the middle of a field that just really appreciates its Iowa roots. Getting to see artists like Kali Uchis, Geese, Wisp, and Ninajiacho in my home state is the best experience!

Elliot Baughman

HMF Network Engineer

2026 was a big year for Hinterland: We constructed a permanent stage, added an extra day of music, and added about 100 more acres to the festival grounds. I’m super impressed and proud of everyone involved who helped on the stage project; constructing a structure like that in a year is a huge accomplishment. Even I came down to help over Thanksgiving break last year since we needed to raise the earth 9 feet to aid construction. The stage was officially completed on the Sunday before the festival, and rigging started the next day on Monday. This meant that my team had to work through the night on Monday after rigging was done to install network devices (like WiFi and cameras) to be ready for the festival. 

KATSEYE needed to replace a couple members due to illness, so they booked a rehearsal on the stage on Wednesday, making this effectively a 5-day event for us. All told, this was the smoothest feeling Hinterland I’ve worked on yet, so it’s encouraging that we were able to add more days without straining our capacity.

This year, we also added 100 more acres of land to the property, moving Car Camping and Single Day Parking off the main highway and into some alfalfa fields on the Northwest side of the grounds. This new addition meant we had access to more wooded area, which turned into beautiful hiking trails to and from the festival. Our festival artist, Betsy, repurposed old semi trailers into recreations of Madison County covered bridges in these new trails. 

The Hinterland grounds are turning into one of the premiere private parks in Iowa, right up there with Seven Oaks and Whiterock Conservancy. We couldn’t be more grateful for our neighbors in St. Charles for hosting us and for the fans who come to enjoy Iowa nature every year.

Jesus Montelongo

Hinterland Media

At Hinterland this year, I worked as a photographer for Hola America News! It was my first time taking photos at an event like this, so I was a bit nervous, but I’m very glad to help introduce the festival to a new demographic of people, especially after they brought a focus on the Latino community this year.

Claire Simpson

Hinterland University Attendee

Hinterland University was such an incredible experience that I will never forget!! Throughout the four days at the festival I connected with and learned from so many music industry and event management professionals, and learned about the ins and outs across so many careers. My favorite highlights during my time at Hinterland would have to be the panels where we heard insights from the Hinterland team, the co-founder of Music Soup Entertainment, Sean Lewow (representing artists like Wisp), and the agent of Katseye, Daniel Lee. In addition to our time learning from panels, we were able to conduct research in a team with fellow classmates. My team was assigned to interview fans on their experience with the artist’s music along with the merch within the festival, and it was so exciting to hear what attendees had to say! In the end, our team shared our findings with the Festival University team for the future to come. Not only was our classroom the Hinterland festival grounds, we also got to experience the artists take on the stage, where I will never forget seeing Lorde’s set, and her shouting out the “Iowa Writers’ Workshop,” what an unbelievable moment! I am forever grateful for this experience, and am so glad to have attended Hinterland University! 

Lucy Prescott

Porch Light Media, Hinterland Attendee

Outside of SCOPE, I have the opportunity to produce digital media content for the band Porch Light. They are an alternative rock band from Minneapolis. When it was announced they were performing at Hinterland I was able to meet up with the band to film content during their set. Porch Light kicked off the weekend with their opening set on day one of the festival. It was such a fun experience to capture footage of the band doing something that they are so passionate about. I loved looking into the crowd and see fans singing along to the songs or holding up signs they made specifically for the Porch Light set. Once their set was over they headed off to Lollapalooza in Chicago where they were performing a set as well as an after show party. Because I am not able to tour with them, I ended my time there and was able to enjoy the rest of the festival lineup.

I was able to enjoy music I had never heard before. I fell in love with the band Amble, danced my heart out to Mumford and Sons, shed tears during Lorde, and was in the pit for Geese. I also caught shows at the Campfire stage, which was a first time experience for me. I was able to see the The Brook and The Bluff, which is one of my favorite bands. I had the most amazing time and can't wait to see what next summer brings.