Maximum Ames is returning for the 8th consecutive year from Sept. 27 through 30.

There will be more than 60 acts at more than 10 venues in Ames, according to organizers. The performances “will cover an expansive range of music territory, from guitar-driven rock to intimate songwriter showcases to jazz to soul and hip hop.”

Bigger names in the lineup include Los Angeles electronic pop/rock project Digisauras, Ames native Leslie Hall, Des Moines alt-rockers The Wheelers, Japanese theatrical rock act The Depaysement and Grinnell, Iowa lounge-folk act Pink Neighbor.

The complete lineup can be found at the Maximum Ames website.

Venues involved with the festival include the Ames Public Library, DG’s Tap House, Deano’s 119 Main, Time Out Ames, Della Viti, Ames Vinyl Grind, London Underground, Wheatsfield Cooperative, Little Woods, Morning Bell Coffee Roasters and the KHOI Radio Studio on Main Street.

Sept. 29 is also the date for Ames Pridefest, which is also happening in downtown Ames. The “overlap furthers the Maximum Ames mission of providing a safe, inclusive environment that fosters creativity and understanding through music and art,” according to the release.

Ames Pridefest will be featuring musicians from the LGBTQIA+ community and also having drag shows near Maximum Ames, according to organizers.

“This year’s Maximum Ames Music Festival showcases the vibrant spirit of community present in both Ames and the larger Midwest music scene,” said festival organizer Mara Spooner. “We think of festival goers as participants who actively strengthen the experience and make Ames a better place. We’re making the Maximum Ames Music Festival as accessible, as fun and as powerful as possible, and collaborating with Ames Pridefest helps us do that.”

While Maximum Ames is bringing in some artists from far and wide, the focus is showcasing music from the Midwest.

“There will be a ton of new bands playing,” said Bryon Dudley, a musician and volunteer festival organizer who’d been indirectly involved by his friends, the founders. “The nice thing about the Midwest is that there’s always bands forming and quitting, so we really are pretty excited about having a lot of new blood for this year. We’ve got bands from Omaha and Lincoln coming in. There’s some people from Saint Paul coming down. There’s some Iowa City people, Dubuque, it’s a little bit all over the place which is [kind of] nice.”

Rae Hattan contributed reporting to this article.