Music festival season is fast approaching, and hopping on the bandwagon is Trippfest II.

The idea for Trippfest was originated last year by Sara Rolfe, a material science engineering graduate student.

“We threw a party last year for Veishea,” Rolfe said. “Since we live on Tripp Street, Trippfest sounded like a good name for it. It was a great time, and we attracted four bands (including One More Roadside Attraction, Grandpa’s Garden and Scattergood), and over 500 people came.”

But landlord problems forced the party to move to a new location. That sparked a new idea in the minds of Rolfe and her roommate Darlene Bradley.

Both of Bradley’s parents died of cancer, and they knew of more people who had been affected by the disease, so they decided to turn the festival into a benefit concert.

“Everyone has been touched by cancer. I felt like it would be a pretty good cause,” Rolfe said.

This year the annual event featuring local bands will be accepting donations throughout the show. All proceeds will go towards supporting cancer research and prevention. Rolfe and Bradley are still deciding on which organization will receive the proceeds.

The bands slated to perform at Trippfest II include Mudlark, Nickel Shy, Great Big Freak, Floodplane and 35″ Mudder.

“I chose Mudlark and Great Big Freak because I’m friends with some of the band members,” Rolfe said. “I play violin for Nickel Shy, and I liked Floodplane’s sound so that’s how they were picked. 35″ Mudder volunteered to play for the show.”

Mudlark’s sound is gritty, not quite hippie-rock, according to lead singer/guitarist Ryan Foust. The band has played mostly at bars and parties and are happy to be hitting the outdoor festival scene.

“We’re excited. We’re writing new material for it, besides playing some Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers’ covers,” Foust said. “It’s a fun chance to play in front of people for a good cause.”

Nickel Shy describes its style as a “total blend of different things.” A lot of the band’s songs come from One More Roadside Attraction. This may be because John Yanders, ex-member of One More Roadside Attraction, joined Nickel Shy after OMRA broke up.

Although Nickel Shy has only been together for a month, the band is ready to bring its own new sound to the festival.

“We’ll bring a rounded aspect to the festival. We’ll be the acoustic end of it,” Rolfe said.

Great Big Freak has been going through lineup changes like dirty underwear for the past four years and finally settled on its current members five months ago.

Lead singer Tony Juarez said all the changes have helped the band fuse together many styles into its music.

“We pride ourselves on being able to do lots of different things with music,” Juarez said.

Juarez said he is glad to play at a benefit concert for cancer, citing losses of family members to the disease, and how it affects so many lives.

Trippfest II will also feature a second stage at the show.

Local band Grubbie Ernie will be onstage playing electrically between the mainstage sets throughout the festival and playing acoustically to help quiet things down while other bands are playing on mainstage.

All musicians are invited to bring their own instruments to the show and jam together acoustically on the second stage.

“It’ll be an open mic kind of thing, only with no mic,” Rolfe said. “It’s a good idea because there are so many musicians in this area, and now they can get together and meet each other.”

Anyone attending is also invited to bring food to grill.

“Hy-Vee donated 100 lbs. of charcoal to the event,” Rolfe said. “The gyro stand might be out there too, and T. Galaxy will be there selling ‘Trippfest II’ T-shirts,” Rolfe said.

Trippfest II will be Saturday at Inis Grove Park on Duff Avenue and 24th Street. The festival begins at noon with Mudlark, Nickel Shy at 2 p.m., Great Big Freak at 4 p.m., Floodplane at 6 p.m. and 35″ Mudder will close the show at 8 p.m.

The festival is free, but donations will be accepted.