Hinterland Music Festival: Day Four

We finally made it to day four of Hinterland Music Festival and we’ve truly experienced all levels of Iowa countryside weather. I can only imagine how jarring the weather whiplash must be for attendees coming from out of state. By Sunday the festival grounds were well loved and I was on cloud 9 being able to hide away in my little festival bubble for the past four days.

While I was wandering the trails surrounding the campgrounds and taking time to reflect, Haute and Freddy, a pop duo from LA, kicked off our final day of the festival. I had learned from previous festivals that the last day is when people really go full out with their outfits and at past festivals I've attended, the direction of those outfits are usually clown/jester forward. So, when I arrived to fest on Sunday and saw a plethora of clown and jesters inspired outfits, I assumed that was the meaning behind them but I was quickly proven wrong when Haute and Freddy took the stage in their own rendition of clown wear and paid proper ode to the weirdness that comes with the final day of festivals.

While Samia was born in LA and has roots in LA, Nashville, and New York, she currently resides in Minneapolis and therefore I consider her a Minnesota local. She earned that title not just by living in Minneapolis, but also utilizing the crazy music talent that also resides there. Having released and been featured on numerous projects with other Minneapolis artists, Samia has worked hard to establish herself as a local and has done well supporting and highlighting other Minneapolis talent. The feelings of midwest pride I held during Porch Light’s set on Thursday transferred over to the emotions felt during Samia’s set on Sunday, a true win for Minnesota music lovers.

Following Samia’s emotive set, another highly anticipated artist of the weekend, Audrey Hobert and her iconic trampoline. After co-writing several songs with Gracie Abrams on her 2024 album The Secret of Us, Hobert released her debut single, "Sue Me", in 2025. Her first album, Who's the Clown?, was released in August 2025. To support the album, Hobert embarked on The Staircase to Stardom Tour, starting on December first in San Francisco. The tour is scheduled to end on October 13, 2026, in Oakland.

During her Sunday set, she took the stage in an extra long trench coat that hid her and her step stool underneath and paired with iconic mustache glasses. Her set was comical, raw, and authentic to the artist Audrey Hobert is. Her set also symbolized a turning point in the festival

Suki Waterhouse took the stage next, another artist that I’ve been trying to see live for years now. While her set was off limits to photograph, I took advantage of the media access to the VIP lounge and got to witness the glory and intricate detail that is a Suki Waterhouse show. Her set was soft but also hard hitting, romantic but also devastating. I had heard controversies with her newest album Loveland, but I think hearing some of the songs live changed my perspective on it and being able to see the visual story come to life on stage built a new found appreciation for the different angle artist perspective.

Wet Leg was an artist that was definitely high on my list for the weekend. I’ve been a fan for a really long time and haven’t gotten the chance to witness a Wet Leg show live. In tune with the weird girl art that I loved most throughout the weekend, Wet Leg was the cherry on top. Their music is more hard hitting and sharp live, which I think complimented the strangeness within Hinterland’s lineup this year.

Coming off the high of Wet Leg and Suki back to back, Geese took the stage. While I'm not their biggest fan, there seemed to be some geese lovers in the crowd as the bubble gun amped up and fan made artwork and signs made their way to the front. Geese did a nice job of getting the crowd amped up for the remainder of the night. With a mini mosh pit opening in the GA crowd and big smiles on the barricade. For some, Wet Leg and Suki were the perfect mid day pick me up, but for others in the Geese.

I have to come clean here, I hadn’t heard of Young Miko as I'm not the biggest R&B fan. HOWEVER, I was not disappointed. Her set was edgy, charismatic, and entertaining and pulled in the best crowd of the day in my opinion. Young Miko’s rise to fame quickly pushed her out of the “Next Latina Rising Artist” category and secured her a place in the global music stream. With music being one of her many talents, she also has been making her way through the industry and collecting a handful of “firsts”. In September 2025, she became the first Puerto Rican Council of Fashion Designers of America ambassador. Following that, in March 2026, Gap launched a new campaign with Miko as the star. The campaign, "Sweats Like This, features a slight remix of her hit single "WASSUP". This is the first Spanish language video campaign by Gap and she is the brand's first openly lesbian Latina face. Definitely an artist I’m excited to come out of the festival listening to and excited to explore a new sub genre of music.

The emotions were starting to set in here as a photographer mentioned in the pit that Young Miko’s set was the set we’d all be in the pit photographing with each other. As this was my first festival as a photographer, I didn’t understand the small community that would be built in just four days. But it’s true, after four days of working, hanging out, and laughing with the same group of photographers, it was kind of bittersweet to come to terms that the weekend was ending and come Monday, we’d all return to our cities.

Kali Uchis was the headliner for this night and while her set was free of photographers in the pit, I still stayed to catch a couple of her beginning songs before embarking on my drive back to Minneapolis. I’ve heard a couple of Kali Uchis’s music but haven’t gotten the chance to see her live or even see recordings of her set. She was greeted by a crowd that was already amped up and probably running on little sleep and pure adrenaline. The crowd gathered for our last time in the pit and we were not disappointed by the performance she delivered. Making festival history as its first-ever Latin headliner, she delivered a pink-hued, feminine, and theatrical performance that featured Spanish-language hits, an entrance arriving through the crowd, and a viral anti-ICE corset statement. Her set was the perfect compliment to Young Miko's as Young Miko was edgy and sharp but Kali Uchis was feminine and whimsical. The perfect encapsulation of the entirety of Hinterland’s set list.