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w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m J u l y 2 0 14 • I nsIgh t | 23 In year two, Mile of Music triples the number of performances and sets sights on laying a permanent foundation for the creative economy in the Fox Cities B y N I k k I k a l l I o L ast year's inaugural Mile of Music festival brewed up like a perfect, lovely storm. For a while, organizers felt a quiet kind of creative humidity that began to pressurize – events like Octoberfest proved people here wanted more things like it. Eventually, gradually, all the right conditions swirled together like heat and a very cool musical front, sparking some serious thunder. Mile of Music, Appleton's self-titled handcraed artisan music festival, brought in more than 15,000 concert- goers and about 100 music artists during its first event last August. Visitors spent between $500,000 and $700,000, festival organizers say. is year, or Mile 2, founders Dave Willems and Cory Chisel are harnessing the momentum, bringing in twice as many bands and tripling the number of performances. It's going to be epic. But Willems and Chisel are not aiming to create a monster-huge music festival – they've got bigger plans. ey'd like to see Mile of Music become more than a few dates on the calendars of music lovers. ey want it to become a destination. Green light W illems, a longtime PR guy even before he opened Willems Marketing, had attended the famous south by southwest festival in Austin, texas, in the late '80s when the festival was just getting off the ground. "at's where that little germ of an idea was in the back of my head, since that time," Willems says. "But life got in the way, other things got in the way. Fast forward 20 years later, I just started thinking about how we have a spot here that is pretty unique and special, with this one-mile stretch of downtown." Photograph by Shane Van Boxtel, Image St udios