This year’s Boro Fondo Music and Bicycle Festival faced unhoped-for challenges as Hurricane Helene drifted near the region, forcing organizers to condense the event to three locations and resulting in the unfortunate cancellation of a few bands.
Despite these setbacks, the festival showcased an impressive lineup of 41 bands across The Boro Bar and Grill, Campus Pub, and a unique house venue called The Crossroads, or CXR. The house venue’s location can only be discovered through flyers, by asking a local punk, or by contacting an organizer.
While the anticipated cycling events were ultimately sidelined due to inclement weather, the spirit of community and music pushed forward, bringing together fans and artists for a remarkable experience.
The Boro Fondo Music and Arts Bicycle Festival plans to collaborate with Crying Cats Books and Records for its inaugural year and aims to partner with other canceled outdoor venues in the future, as cancellations affected several stops along the bicycle route.
Festivals like this serve as platforms where music, community service, and advocacy intersect, fostering a sense of unity among participants while addressing critical urban issues such as transportation safety.
Hope Headden is an organizer and member of the band Bleached Out, which participated in a festival and will attest to the festival’s success. As a co-treasure of Fondo, Headden shared that Fondo raised $1182 and they are donating that to Walk Bike Nashville, an organization an organization is dedicated to promoting safe and accessible transportation options for cyclists and pedestrians in the Nashville area. They are also going to match that donation and give it to Helene relief as well.
The positive reception noted by Headden indicates other successes.
“We’ve had people messaging us saying, thank you for putting this on. I had so much fun .” Says Headden. “And people who haven’t been to shows before discovered, you know, local scene, and we’re thanking us to say, “Hey, this is really cool.” “So I’m hoping that we have some people come to our public debriefing things, some new volunteers.”
A debriefing will take place on October 14th. The schedule is as follows: the committee will meet at 6:30 PM and the session will open to the public at 7:30 PM. The specific location of the debriefing will be provided by the organizers
The Boro Bar and Grill has a history of being a venue for the event. The significance of this year’s hosting lies in the fact that it marked the first time the establishment operated for the full duration on Saturday, from noon to midnight. They worked closely with Boro Fondo demonstrating their commitment to supporting community activities even when faced with unforeseen weather-related challenges. After hours at The Boro Bar and Grill, the night ended at the Campus Pub which was within walking distance.
According to Mary Beth Wrather, who is the General and booking manager, “we love hosting, because we are one of the few LGBTQ-plus friendly bars in Murfreesboro, and it’s a huge part of the punk scene in Murfreesboro, so, I think that’s really important for us as well as the people who attend Boro Fondo.”
It doesn’t matter what preference someone has in music. At Boro Fondo they can find what they are looking for. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a Jimmy Buffett-loving parrot Head like the guys from the band Munkin! Or a band that’s played the festival since 2016, whose lead singer drank a bottle of moonshine containing two aliens, “SkeetZo N Krysis” who now have control of each side of his brain, creating a split appearance. you can even find the sex-neutral asexual bubble punk band “Dumpster Pussy” mostly from Nashville aside from the singer BugBite who is also from Murfreesboro.
“I love playing Fondo because I graduated high school in Murfreesboro and I was adopted here, and I love it here.” Says BugBite.
Review & photos by I’m Music Magazine Contributing Writer Matthew Olson
