FOREIGN FIGURES TO HEADLINE NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL IN OGDEN
Mitten Durch is an all-day music festival for mental health awareness making its debut at Ogden Amphitheater May 27.
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Headlining artists in order: Foreign Figures, Blindlove, and future.exboyfriend. Images provided
Mitten Durch is a new music festival being held May 27 at the Ogden Amphitheater created and funded by Ogdenite Sandra Hohmann to raise awareness and support for mental health. The day-long concert will run from 1:30 to 9:30 p.m. featuring popular Utah acts Foreign Figures, Blindlove, future.exboyfriend, Junk Percussion Trio and Old Ghost (Nick Garn). The festival hopes to normalize taboo subjects, lift the shame, and provide festival goers with information on where to turn in time of need.
“This festival is for concert-goers who like to be entertained by great Utah artists who proudly claim the mental health platform, struggle themselves, or know someone who does have difficulties with Mental Health Problems,” Hohmann says.
After being hit in a car accident in 2021, Hohmann decided to use her settlement money to underwrite the festival. “I always believed that events are mini vacations,” Hohmann says. “Going to an event has always made me feel good, and music unites and motivates. So, what if I could put on a music festival that not only allows us to vacate but also raises awareness for a cause that is dear to my heart?”
Mitten Durch, in Hohmann’s native German language means “going through it.” She wanted to honor her German heritage while also tackling the misconception that people with mental illness can just “get over it” or “brush it off.” It’s a reference to the classic children’s game Bear Hunt: “We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. We can’t go around it. We just have to go through it.” Hohmann says “Mitten Durch means facing the struggle and moving towards it until the next obstacle arises.”
Hohmann cites a 2022 study by NiceRX that discovered 30% of adult Utahans suffer from mental health problems. “That ranks us as the state with the most mental illnesses in the nation,” she says. “I would like to help make access to care more available to people by showing what's out there.”
A frequent concert-goer for many years, Hohmann is thrilled about the lineup. She first saw Foreign Figures at Loveloud in Salt Lake City. “I am such a fan of artists who find a way to press on despite obstacles,” she says. At the time of booking she had no idea that lead singer EJ Michels was a contestant on The Voice.
“Foreign Figures perform all over the state in schools at assemblies, school concerts, etc. spreading the message of positivity and anti-bullying,” she says. “I had to have them for my first concert.”
As for Blindlove, she says “I knew they were special from the minute I saw them. Brogan Kelby’s voice is fantastic and the showmanship and the joy the band transmits are so infectious.”
She recalls a soaring pride when “I Wanna Be Okay” was played on national radio. “It's a song about wanting to be okay despite the isolation the Covid regulations have brought to us during 2020 and 2021.”
She met future.ex.boyfriend at UT Audio and loved their sound after seeing them at Northern Utah Trailfest in Eden and at the Provo Buzzard & Bees Festival in 2022.
Junk Percussion Group (a Utah “stomp” group) impressed her at the You Are Gold concert at Weber State University, and she wanted to bring those same good vibes to Mitten Durch.
Nick Garn aka Old Ghost is a friend and artist that Hohmann considers one of Ogden’s finest. “He was with me from the beginning even when the festival was merely a thought.”
Hohmann’s dream is to bring the Mitten Durch music festival to Ogden annually during Mental Health Awareness Month. “I am hoping if I were to get any proceeds or make any profit after all expenses are paid that I could put on a bigger festival with maybe nationwide artists next year.”
Mitten Durch festival will be held May 27 at the Ogden Amphitheatre in Ogden, Utah from 1:30-9:30 p.m. Food trucks will be on site. Tickets are $20, on sale now at mittendurchfestival.eventbrite.com. Follow the festival pages for updates: IG @mittendurchfest and FB@MittenDurchfest.Due to the sensitive nature of the Mitten Durch Festival, there will be no alcohol allowed inside the venue and there won't be any alcohol for purchase.Sponsorships and vendor booths are available. Contact Sandra Hohmann for details at 385-333-8999.
