Streetbeat, the electronic and dance music program on Northwestern’s student-run radio station WNUR, will perform at a music and visual arts festival in Chicago Friday.

The VIA Festival, hosted for the first time in Chicago this year, will be sponsored by WNUR and feature several musical acts and visual artists from around the country. The festival will be held from Oct. 1 to 5 in five announced locations and a few secret locations that will be revealed throughout the five-day period.

Artists slated to perform include Anamanaguchi, Blue Hawaii and Teen Witch Fan Club, who performed on Dillo Day 2014. On Friday, two Streetbeat DJs will open for musical artists Cakes Da Killa, MikeQ and Juketastrophe.

Streetbeat’s performance will be at a secret location that will be announced to ticketholders only.

Streetbeat events coordinator Edrick Chu said the festival has a lot to offer students and Chicago music fans alike.

“Northwestern students have a tendency to get stuck in Evanston’s bubble,” Chu, a Communication senior who will perform Friday, said in an email to the Daily. “We’re very excited to see a festival that has promoted Chicago artists come to our city. The music they’re promoting is very in line with the music that WNUR and Streetbeat promote.”

Streetbeat is featured every weeknight and Sunday night on WNUR and specializes in broadcasting underground music, ranging from house to hip-hop, to students and Chicago-area listeners.

The group will hold a WNUR kick-off event on the Norris East Lawn on Sunday, which will feature various Chicago artists, including hip-hop artist Princess Nokia, who is also performing at VIA.

Medill sophomore Aliza Abarbanel, promotional director for WNUR’s rock show, said Streetbeat’s involvement in the festival is important to WNUR’s continued success as “Chicago’s sound experiment.”

“I think it’s great that WNUR is continuing to sponsor music events across Chicago,” Abarbanel said. “Continuing to curate music is a great way for WNUR to expand the way it presents new music to the Chicago community.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Streetbeat’s involvement in the festival due to an editing error. WNUR will be sponsoring the festival, and Streetbeat will be performing in the festival. The Daily regrets the error.

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