![The crowd cheered during the Matt and Kim performance at the first day of Rock the Garden. ] Rock the Garden was held Saturday afternoon at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. MONICA HERNDON monica.herndon@startribune.com Minneapolis, MN 06/21/2014 ORG XMIT: MIN1406220154513012](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/NONHNXZOBIN3VF5G5ELKUAMWPI.jpg?&w=1080)
Walker Art Center's big, 89.3 the Current co-sponsored summer music fest Rock the Garden will be a two-day event for the second year in a row. The Walker just announced the dates for the 2015 installment, June 20-21, and promised to announce the lineup of performers on March 31. Tickets will go on sale April 2 for Walker and Minnesota Public Radio members, and to everyone else June 7.
Thanks in part to the addition of the second day, last year's lineup with Spoon and De La Soul for headliners was the first time in several years the tickets didn't sell out right away. Organizers were nonetheless happy with the results, since the additional day of music amounts to an additional day of revenue over the same set-up costs whether it's a one-day or two-day event.
A majority of last year's 11,000-per-day tickets were sold as single-day tickets rather than two-day passes, which also opens up more chances to bring in new members with the added ticket availability. Both the Walker and Current are non-profit organizations use the rock fest as both a fundraiser and a memberhip-generator. Get more info on becoming a Walker member here, or an MPR member here.
"The key word here is still 'benefit,' " Doug Benidt, the Walker's assistant curator of performing arts, said last year about making it a two-day event. "Doing it this way is for the greater benefit of both organizations."
