Craving something new to add to your spring routine?
How does a local music festival sound?
The 2026 Celestial Fest will satisfy your appetite with a two-day, family-friendly, interactive, hyper-local music festival at Ambrosia Orchard on May 16-17.
This year’s festival is the largest one yet. Over the course of two days, it will feature 10 bands on the main stage, eight on the side stage, 40 vendors, a pop-up market, a craft corner, and a sensory corner. Admission is $10, with free admission for children under 12.
The festival, now in its third iteration, was founded by the local band SUN.DYLE. The group started the festival to give bands another option to play here locally.
“What Fort Wayne seems to be lacking for local musicians right now, especially local, original musicians, is venues where we can play,” Emma Torres, lead organizer for the event and lead singer in SUN.DYLE said.
A few of the bands on the main stage include Chirp, Mike Neglia and the Nobles, and Neighborhood Strays.
The festival came about because of the experiences SUN.DYLE has had at other festivals.
“I think that’s what sets us aside, is we prioritize our musicians and our performers, and then I learned a lot from the owner at Ambrosia, Blanca Bender, about pop-up markets and getting vendors,” Torres said. “I also have a couple of friends who are vendors and local artists. It was just a lot of what I’ve seen somebody do in the past, so I’m going to follow their lead here, or I didn’t really like how they did that, so I’m going to do it differently.”
And it has been a lot of trial and error.
“I’m just really stubborn, so if I want something to be good, I’m going to just keep working, working, working until it’s up to my standards, which are pretty high,” Torre said.
The festival has grown each year. The first year, Torres and her bandmates were passing out flyers, and then they started to reach larger audiences with spots in local news outlets or on the radio stations in Fort Wayne.
“We feel like we got kind of lucky that now people know about it,” Torres said. “And that’s the thing, once you’re there, it’s so different. I feel like it’s just a vibe in the air out there, and I know everybody says that, but when you’re there, it’s so different. And the experience is something that you take with you and that you feel closer to your community, our musicians, you always want to come back.”
The festival has also grown in popularity and resonated with bands inside the region, as well as surrounding states.
“I think because we’ve treated the bands well and the vendors too, that word of mouth has gotten around where bands want to come back,” Ben Beutel, SUN.DYLE’s bass guitarist said.
That effect has created a family environment among the bands that perform at the festival.
“With our festival, you pay 10 bucks at the door, then your family. You get to see our band members, our bands that are performing throughout the day, interacting with each other. Because a lot of them were either meeting for the first time or had met before. And there’s that kinship there, and they’re going to see our bands want to be there, and I think that’s what’s really nice about being a smaller festival. They’re not just there because it gets them clout. They’re there because they want to perform for people,” Torres said.
Beutel added that it took nearly two months to get through all of the submissions and decide on the lineup.
“We had to do submissions for bands because we had so much interest, and even with two days, there are still limited slots,” Beutel said.
That family environment among the bands and vendors has extended to festivalgoers.
“I think a huge thing that sets us apart is that everything is super kid-friendly. The sensory corner is huge because let’s say you’re there with your kiddos and you don’t want to be right up on the stage. You not only get a sensory corner, but there are going to be shakers, percussion instruments, and keyboards. We have something for everybody,” Torres said.
Being kid-friendly is and always has been a top priority.
“It’s just never been a question. I have six nephews, and the majority of our shows they can’t come to, especially in Fort Wayne, because if you’re playing a venue, it’s going to be 21 and older,” Torres said. “Ambrosia is always family-friendly, so it’s not even a question.”
The goal is to keep the festival going for as long as possible and keep doing it for the community SUN.DYLE has created.
“If we can harness that and take care of Fort Wayne the way Fort Wayne has taken care of us, I just want to keep doing it,” Torres said. “My goal is just to keep doing it and let it ride.”
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