The third annual KURE Fest kicks off Friday on the Campanile south lawn, with big changes, and even bigger acts, all for free.

The festival, which is put on by Ames student-run radio station KURE 88.5, was originally in Friley Hall’s “dungeon” in 2004 and 2005 but quickly disappeared after only two years. Revived in 2010, the festival was moved outdoors.

“Basically, we didn’t have enough funding or manpower to run it at the time,”said Darren Hushak, the music director of KURE.

Instead, the station attempted to prove the Maintenance Shop — where the festival has been for the past two years — was too small. Last year, KURE Fest featured national acts such as Kreayshawn and Neon Indian, that proved the station needed more space for next year, according to Hushak.

After deciding to have the festival outside this year then came finding a time for the festival. Hoping to make it a Friday or Saturday, the station started choosing dates for the concert.

“We wanted to make sure there wasn’t a football game or another event at the same time,” Hushak said. “We worked with the Maximum Ames people to make sure we weren’t going the same week.”

After narrowing down to five dates, Sept. 28 was chosen, which Hushak described as an “awesome time,” mainly because there are no football games and was at the same time as ISU AfterDark, which should help feed both crowds to each other’s events.

RJD2, the alias of underground electronic deejay RJ Krohn, and Atlas Sound, which consists of Deerhunter lead singer Bradford Cox, will be the national acts for this year’s festival. Based in Georgia, Atlas Sound is an experimental ambient artist with a growing following. RJD2, a veteran in the underground scene, wrote the song “Beautiful Mine,” the theme song from the show “Mad Men.” Getting RJD2 was a huge success, as he is played on the station’s rotations a lot, according to Hushak.

Joining them are local favorites Christopher the Conquered and River Monks, only a week after their performances at the Maximum Ames Music Festival.

“We’ve been trying to get Christopher the Conquered for the past two years, but he’s had other shows then,” Hushak said. “River Monks fit what this festival needs.”

Chris Ford, the namesake and frontman of Christopher the Conquered is looking forward to the festival for the potential it has for him and his group.

“It gives me the chance to play my music to people that normally wouldn’t hear,” Ford said. “I’m looking forward to sharing my music with the new students.”

And if the music wasn’t enough, Superdog and Euro Cart will be at the festival and possibly sponsor Fighting Burrito, although Hushak added that it isn’t set in stone quite yet. Another sponsor, Wilson Scion of Ames, will be displaying a smart car at the festival.

With estimates of more or less than 1500, the festival promises to be big for the concert goers and for the station itself. In addition to the KURE staff, volunteers and stage companies have been hired to help run the festival smoothly.

KURE Fest

Where: South Campanile lawn

When: 7:30 p.m.

Cost: Free