Donate to Support Mad Lit!

Mad Lit, our free summer concert series, has supported 150+ local artists, vendors and visual artists of color via stage access, market place visibility, and honorariums thanks to sponsors, and individual donations.

IT'S TIME TO GET LIT!

Join us July 14th, 2023 on the 100 Block of State Street in Madison, WI from 8pm – 11pm for the official launch of the 2023 Mad Lit event series! All upcoming event dates are listed below, stay tuned for artist confirmations!

Latest Update: September 5th, 2023

7/14

Artists Confirmed:
Rebulu, Grupo Candela and Rey Cruz

Vendors Confirmed:
Queen P’s Throne, Artesanias Nuestra Cultura, Creations for Deities

Visual Artists Confirmed:
LashayTheArtist, Lilada Gee

7/28

Artists Confirmed:
Ted Park & Parlay Pass, Tas Raww, Chaos New Money, J. Clark, and DJ M. White

Vendors Confirmed:
Much More, Earthly Temptation LLC, RR Moore Books n Mugs

Visual Artists Confirmed:
Dani RAD

8/11

Artists Confirmed:
Fresh Force, L.U.V., Black Poet Society, DJ Iron Mike and special guests!

Vendors Confirmed:
Winston’s WHAM!, Star Media Group, LLC.

Visual Artists Confirmed:
Vero’s Visuals, Inspired by Lilada, Lashay The Artist, CTHYSELF Design

8/18

Artists Confirmed:
Bang, Big Daddy Earl, Plug Tawk, Ayo Keyz, Meish and DJ Dee Franko

Vendors Confirmed:
Dripsphere, Queen P’s Throne, Earthly Temptation LLC

9/08

Artists Confirmed:
Lature, RR Moore, Shahyra Majumder, Sabrina Madison, Deep Thought The Lyricist, Dellavonte Hune, First Wave Poets, and DJ 4000

Vendors Confirmed:
Blessed Divine Creations, Nuestra Cultura Crafts, Creations for Deities

Visual Artists Confirmed:
Dani RAD

9/22

Artists Confirmed:
La Combi, Kiiing Boo, and DJ Spade

Vendors Confirmed:
The Official Ville LLC

9/29

Artists Confirmed:
DJ Terrence J, DJ Femme Noir, DJ Jean Le Duke, and DJ Chamo

Vendors Confirmed: 
Zuri’s Furry Friends, Much More

Interested in participating during this years Mad Lit event series?

Take a moment to fill out our interest form!

Mad Lit began in the Summer of 2021 every other Friday on July 2 through October 8, on the 100 block of State Street. Mad Lit is a free concert series featuring live music and highlighting local artists, and businesses of color. The series ran from 8 PM until 11 PM and included pop-up shops, visual exhibits, and community-led workshops.

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted State Street businesses and culture, and this new event series was a way to help revitalize the 100 block of State Street. Although this area has not always been a welcoming space for people of color, the social justice murals that went up during the summer and fall of 2020 brought a new and diverse group of people downtown – some for the first time.

More Lights

“I was talking with one of the owners of one of the restaurants and the conversation started as, ‘You know what this street needs: more lights.’ And that’s really how the whole thing kind of evolved.”

Interested in sponsoring Mad Lit?

View our sponsorship packages.

Background:

Mad Lit began in the Summer of 2021 every other Friday on July 2 through October 8, on the 100 block of State Street. Mad Lit is a free concert series featuring live music and highlighting local artists, and businesses of color. The series ran from 8 PM until 11 PM and included pop-up shops, visual exhibits, and community-led workshops.

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted State Street businesses and culture, and this new event series was a way to help revitalize the 100 block of State Street. Although this area has not always been a welcoming space for people of color, the social justice murals that went up during the summer and fall of 2020 brought a new and diverse group of people downtown – some for the first time.

2023 Sponsors:

This project is supported by Dane County Arts with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation; The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times; the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation; and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.

Previous Sponsors:

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Photo Collages:

Click an image to enlarge the 2021 and 2022 photo collages created to showcase our previous Mad Lit performing artists, vendors and visual artists. 

Photo Collages:

Click an image to enlarge the 2021 and 2022 photo collages created to showcase our previous Mad Lit performing artists, vendors and visual artists. 

2023 Mad Lit Sponsors:

This project is supported by Dane County Arts with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation; The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times; the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation; and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.

Previous Sponsors:

2022 Mad Lit Gallery

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