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St. Charles, Iowa — As he raved about the breezy plains weather, the blustery audience reception and the overriding pleasantness of his gig deep in flyover country Friday, one of the bestselling rappers of the 2020s made a not-so-nice revelation.
“I don’t even know where I’m at on the map,” Tyler, the Creator admitted during his headlining set at the Hinterland Music Festival.
A music promoter version of Iowa’s favorite slogan, “If you build it, they will come,” Hinterland has grown from a quaint and cozy festival-that-could into the Upper Midwest’s trendiest and buzziest music fest over the past 10 years. It has gotten so popular, organizers built it bigger and better this year.
The three-day festival’s footprint on hilly farmland 30 miles south of Des Moines — down by the I-35 exit signs for the Covered Bridges of Madison County — expanded to more than double its former size in 2025 to a 250-acre layout.
That’s one of the advantages with Hinterland’s out-there location: plenty of room to grow. Another selling point was evidenced this past weekend by all the young attendees in vintage store cowboy boots and expensive Daisy Duke-style cutoff shorts, who posed for Instagram selfies and TikTok videos beside the rustic wood fences and not-for-show tractors strewn around the festival grounds.
The other perks of Hinterland being held deep in Iowa — traits like the weather and the affordability and the just so gosh-darn-nice staff — also were on full display for what was arguably Hinterland’s most eclectic yet star-powered lineup yet, with Tyler, Lana Del Rey and Kacey Musgraves for headliners and such now-breaking newcomers as the Marías, Sierra Ferrell, Clairo, Role Model, Wyatt Flores and Remi Wolf. Those former names have been atop the lineups of many of the country’s top festivals, including Coachella and Lollapalooza.
Lana Del Rey encouraged audience participation during the Hinterland Music Festival’s closing set Sunday, one of only two U.S. gigs on her calendar in 2025. (Gaby Deimeke)
While the Twin Cities’ popular new music fest, Minnesota Yacht Club, is booking acts that played the Lollapalooza tours 30-plus years ago (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day), Hinterland treats its audiences to Lollapalooza headliners from today for a cheaper and more intimate experience.
Tyler, the Creator even went straight from topping off the Lolla lineup a night later in Chicago in front of 115,000 fans to performing to about a third as many in Central Iowa. The audience size didn’t seem to matter.
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