The Maximum Ames Music Festival (MAMF), which brought over 60 acts to over a dozen of music venues downtown Ames last year, returns to Ames for the ninth time this September.

Festival organizers announced Sept. 5-8 as the plotted date for the festival at London Underground’s monthly Queers & Beers event Sunday with a lineup announcement to follow this summer.

“We’re so excited to bring the Maximum Ames Music Festival to downtown Ames once again this September,” said Mara Spooner, organizer of Maximum Ames. “Music fans should mark their calendars for September fifth through eighth and prepare for the adventurous and diverse musical experience that has become the hallmark of the Maximum Ames Music Festival. We’re on a mission to bring people together and blow their minds like never before.”

The Maximum Ames mission is to provide a safe, inclusive environment that fosters understanding through music and art as stated on their official website. This mission is reinforced by planning MAMF dates in coordination with Ames Pridefest, taking place in downtown Ames on Sept. 7. The collaboration between the two events first happened in 2018 and formed a bond both organizations want to continue in 2019, said Spooner.

Since 2011, the Maximum Ames Music Festival has stood by their mission of creating a diverse music experience by bringing in performers such as the Zombies, Warda Jackson, Meat Puppets, Lavender Country and the Mount Goat’s John Darnielle. The festival also features local performers from across the state of Iowa and the Midwest.