What to know about IU's Granfalloon festival and the free Japanese Breakfast concert

The Granfalloon festival returns to downtown Bloomington this summer with musical guests Japanese Breakfast and Car Seat Headrest, as well as a slew of other literary and cultural events.

The Indiana University Arts and Humanities Council is putting on the festival, which takes place primarily the weekend of June 2. The Granfalloon brings together the entire city, branching out from campus, said Ed Dallis-Comentale, director of the IU Arts & Humanities Council.

The festival serves as the launching point for Bloomington's summer arts season. It helps to develop relationships and build the local arts scene, Dallis-Comentale said, and the festival is just one way IU continues to invest in the region.

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"It's one of the few things that we do in this town where you have both sides of the sample gate working together to create something," he said.

What is a Granfalloon?

The festival is based on many of writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s ideas and writing. Vonnegut, a Hoosier, coined the word "Granfalloon" in his 1963 novel "Cat's Cradle," which he intended to mean a meaningless but proud collection of identity and belonging.

Vonnegut envisioned a Granfalloon as being both sentimental and cynical, Dallis-Comentale said. So when planning the festival, he said they play a lot with that mixture of emotions.

"That's what makes it appealing," Dallis-Comentale said. "A lot of people know how ridiculous it all is."

What is the concert lineup?

Alternative pop band Japanese Breakfast will perform a free concert at 5 p.m. June 4 outside on Kirkwood Avenue mainstage. They will be joined by indie rock band Car Seat Headrest and instrumentalist NNAMDÏ.

VIP tickets are sold out, but pit tickets are still available to purchase online. However, the public can attend for free without tickets.

The rain-out location is the IU Auditorium.

After they booked Japanese Breakfast early last summer, Dallis-Comentale said it was amazing to see Zauner and the band become incredibly popular and was even featured on the season finale of Saturday Night Live. Zauner was also named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2022.

"We've always managed to find bands right before they blow up," Dallis-Comentale said.

Who is Japanese Breakfast?

Michelle Zauner is the lithe singer and guitarist who creates indie pop under the name Japanese Breakfast. She is praised for releases such as "Psychopomp," "Soft Sounds from Another Planet" and her most recent album "Jubilee." Japanese Breakfast recently earned two Grammy nominations for best new artist and best alternative music album.

Her book, "Crying in H Mart," is a New York Times Best Selling memoir about growing up Korean-American and losing her mother. Before performing later that night, Zauner will do a reading and interview about her book at noon June 4 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.

What other events are going on?

The organizers work with multiple partners to ensure many different forms of art and creative expression are at the event, Dallis-Comentale said, so there is something for everyone to enjoy.

"We try to provide a lot of opportunity for for people to lend their voice to the festival," he said. "We really like to think of the festival as a meeting point for different kinds of people with different backgrounds and expressions and viewpoints."

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Two events are being held in conjunction with the Granfalloon, which Dallis-Comentale said has caused the festival to grow "fourfold." The IU Writers Conference has multiple events from June 2-5 intertwining with Vonnegut-themed festival. The Bloomington Handmade Market and Summer Fair is June 4.

From May 30 to July 8, an ongoing exhibit, "Vonnegut @ 100: A Century of Stories," will be in the Process Gallery at the Gayle Karch Cook Center.

More information on all events can be found online at https://bit.ly/3wOcd1g.

June 1

7:30 p.m at the Monroe County Public Library: Indiana Author Awards

June 2

• 7 p.m. Buskirk-Chumley Theater: Reading and interview with New York Times best selling memoirist Ashley C. Ford

• 8:30 p.m. at The Orbit Room: Reading with author and playwright Michael Martone

June 3

• Noon - 1 p.m. at Monroe County Public Library Auditorium: Rippling Effects of Incarceration on Families Panel with Ashley C. Ford

• 5:30 p.m. at The Orbit Room: Clubfest

• 7 p.m. at the Bluebird Nightclub: Clubfest

• 7 p.m. Buskirk-Chumley Theater: Theatrical performances of "More Perfect Places" and "IN. Character"

• 9:30 p.m. at The Bishop Bar: Clubfest

June 4

• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Kirkwood Avenue: Bloomington Handmade Market and Bloomington Summer Fair

• 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Monroe County Public Library: Granfallooning the Environment: Public discussions about ecology, sustainability, end times, and how to avoid them

• 11 a.m.-noon and 2-3 p.m. at the Monroe County Public Library: Kurt Vonnegut’s Nature Tour of the Century

• 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Monroe County Public Library: Fix It Fair

• Noon at Buskirk-Chumley Theater: Reading and interview with Michelle Zauner

• 2 p.m. outside at the Monroe County Public Library: Head-to-Head Haiku Battle

• 5 p.m. outside on Kirkwood Avenue: MainStage concert with Car Seat Headrest, Japanese Breakfast and NNAMDI

• 11 p.m. at the Bishop Bar: Afterparty

June 5

2 p.m. virtually: Book discussion on Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Cate Charron is an intern at The Herald-Times. You can reach her over email at ccharron@heraldt.com or on Twitter at @CateCharron.

Freelance writer Connie Shakalis contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Recent SNL musical guest Japanese Breakfast headlines free Granfalloon