This year, the booklet featured a cat in cowboy boots and hat strumming a guitar on the cover. It's filled with word games, coloring pages and even a guide on how to draw Kurt Vile.
“Not just for kids!” Muse Lambert insisted when asked who the activity book was made for. In fact, the 2022 edition features late-night acts like Joe Pera and Tim Heidecker in its pages. It also includes a Lucy Dacus-themed crossword, a Liz Cooper connect-the-dots, Lake Street Dive sudoku, a Billy Strings color-by-number, and more.
If Aaron Frazer of Durand Jones and the Indications can color in one, you can too!
The Hinterland Music Festival Activity Book has been a tradition since the very first Hinterland back in 2015. This year, the festival printed three thousand copies for distribution at the Hinterkids tent, a shady, air conditioned spot near the clubhouse that featured activities and entertainment for kids and their parents attending Hinterland.
Booklets like these are a familiar art form for the Iowa artist and musician. “I used to make [an activity book] for [satirical rap artist] Leslie Hall back in the day. It started as a little zine that evolved into a full size book,” Muse Lambert explained. “So when [Hinterland founder] Sam Summers asked me to do the kids tent, we thought an activity book would be a good fit.”
Muse Lambert has made the activity book for every year of Hinterland, for Exile Brewing’s fifth anniversary, and for the band Pavement’s upcoming sold-out world tour. “It’s a big exciting thing for me!” she said.
This year's booklet was also made possible by Des Moines artists Janelle Ketcher, Nicole K. James, Karen Lewis, and Anna Gebhardt.
If you thought this year's was cool, or didn't know this was a thing, she says to stay tuned for 2023! The book will be back.
