New Salt Lake Indie Music Festival Announces Lineup for September Shows

SALT LAKE CITY — Some familiar faces will be returning to Salt Lake City for the newest indie music festival.

Love Letters Music Festival's inaugural year will be headlined by Joji, Quinn XCII and Ashnikko, festival organizers announced Tuesday. Headliners will be joined by 58 other groups during the three-day event.

The festival is put on by Salt Lake company S&S Presents, which also hosts the Kilby Block Party. Unlike Kilby, Love Letters will cater to a younger, Utah-based audience, said Nic Smith, managing director of S&S Presents.

"Love Letters fest … appeals to a different kind of audience in Salt Lake," he said. "All of these groups have played Salt Lake before."

Where Kilby features indie rock "legacy bands" and targets older listeners, Love Letters shines a spotlight on local groups. About a third of the lineup are pop-adjacent local bands looking for their first chance to play a festival stage.

"There might be some people who really like both sets (Love Letters and Kilby Block Party), but they're pretty different," Smith said. "I think there's probably a 10% crossover here."

Beeson, the Utah-grown solo project of Jane Beeson, is one of those crossovers. She's played Kilby and is coming to Love Letters, where she's looking forward to playing for some of her original fans.

The state's music scene stands out with a lot of raw talent, she said, and fans who are engaged, fun and discerning listeners.

Beeson is excited to play alongside Utah friends and big names. S&S Presents "does a good job seamlessly integrating locals" into their lineups, she said.

"We have a lot of really good local bands here who, for whatever reason, don't get the opportunity to play the Twilight Series or Kilby Block Party," Smith said.

Festival organizers want to give these up-and-comers a shot with an audience that already knows its music. Smith anticipates 90% of three-day passes will be snagged by Utahns — for reference, only 50% of passes went to locals at Kilby Block Party 5.

Love Letters will run from Sept. 27-29 at Library Square in downtown Salt Lake City.

Festival attendees can purchase three-day general admission passes for $189 or a VIP pass for $329 beginning on Thursday. Depending on three-day pass sales, there could be single-day passes rolling out later this summer.

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