Overview Hinterland is an independently owned music and camping festival in the farm country of St. Charles, Iowa, outside Des Moines, and its 2026 edition gave KATSEYE the group's first festival headlining set, ahead of Lorde, Mumford and Sons and Kali Uchis. Founder and producer Sam Summers started it in 2015, and the 2026 festival was its 11th. The bill runs from headliners down to emerging acts across pop, indie, rock, hip-hop, rhythm and blues, Latin and folk, and in 2026 the festival ran four days, Thursday to Sunday, for the first time since 2022. On site The main stage became a permanent structure in 2026. Around it sit the HinterMarket of regional artists and makers, art installations, trails and hidden photo spots, and Miniland, the former kids' area, renamed in 2025 as a hangout for any age with crafts and sets from Iowa bands. Camp Hinterland is its own world: walk-in tents, car camping, ADA sites, RVs and glamping, a Campfire Stage that plays after the headliners, Silent Disco until 3 a.m., yoga, poetry readings and brunch in the morning, 24-hour food vendors and pedicabs across the grounds. A 90 Degree Guarantee lets ticket holders return a ticket if the forecast runs too hot. Audience In 2025 more than 13,000 people camped on site for the weekend. The festival's 2026 deck says tickets sold in all 50 states. In 2026 Studio One's reviewers saw ponchos through Lorde's set in the rain, a crowd in windbreakers for MUNA, and longtime Hinterlanders bringing their kids to KATSEYE. Talent and Influencers Kali Uchis closed 2026 as the festival's first Latin headliner. The rest of the bill included Beabadoobee, MUNA, CMAT, Paris Paloma, Young Miko, Santigold, Wet Leg, Geese, Ashnikko, Suki Waterhouse, Audrey Hobert and The Format, whose singer Nate Ruess is from Iowa. Tyler, the Creator, Kacey Musgraves and Lana Del Rey headlined 2025. Earlier bills carried Chappell Roan, Zach Bryan, Hozier, Noah Kahan, Willie Nelson, Bon Iver and Brandi Carlile. Kacey Musgraves' verdict: "Hinterland for president." Track record Summers put 2024 attendance at 21,000, and the 2025 Sunday with Lana Del Rey sold out at 25,000 tickets in a year of record ticket sales. In 2025 the festival gave $25,000 to a nonprofit that supports working musicians, after Chappell Roan's Grammys speech about health care for artists. The festival puts its economic impact on the local community at $5 million. Brand presence Sponsorship attaches to the parts of the weekend people use: naming rights on the Campfire Stage and on the tent, RV and glamping campgrounds, plus the hydration, charging and comfort stations, the shuttle, shade structures and recharge areas. Partners can hold a category exclusively, run sampling and talent gifting, and use Hinterland's own marks in retail and marketing campaigns, with multi-year terms available.