Shipyard Music Festival is returning to Cape Girardeau for its second year Sept. 27.

This 2019 event will be two days long, beginning at 6 p.m. Friday and noon on Saturday at Ivers Square in downtown Cape Girardeau. Themis and Lorimier Streets will be blocked off with the main stage set up next to the courthouse. The event features 11 bands in total; three take the stage on Friday night and eight more on Saturday.

Jeff Rawson, the Creative Director at Rustmedia and Founder of Shipyard said the two-day music festival will be “like a big block party.”

“We’ve added more of the experiential things on-site, so there are more things to do beyond the stage, more lawn games, more giveaways, more just happening all around,” Rawson said.

Kicking off the festival is local band Retro City. Drummer for Retro City and Southeast graduate assistant Raleigh Davis said last year all four members happened to be at Shipyard as staff, so to be returning as performers has them excited and ready to play, even if the weather is raining like last year.

“If it’s pouring down rain again, we’re gonna play the show. If it’s sunny and 76 [degrees], we’re gonna play the show. It doesn’t matter, we’re gassed and ready to go,” Davis said.

There will also be interactive experiences from each sponsor, a kids area and local food vendors including El Sol, Imo’s Pizza, Mary Jane’s, Bistro Saffron and Gabriel's Food + Wine.

Rawson said the goal of the event is to inspire community and bring people together. Also using these first few years as an educational experience for both himself and the community.

“We are trying to gauge what the community wants and deliver that and in a safe space, but we want it to be a great party too,” Rawson said.

Shipyard was created out of a daily email called The Scout, which focuses on the positive things that happen in the Cape community. The festival, Rawson said, is an event that celebrates the good that happens in that community.

“Cities large and small all around the nation have music festivals, and with our geographic location, there is no reason why Cape shouldn’t as well,” Rawson said. “I wanted kids, adults, college students and everybody to have that experience at a relatively low price point and right in their backyard.”