Middle Waves is as important to Fort Wayne as Stonehenge is to Wiltshire, England.

OK, perhaps not. But I had to find a cheesy way to segue into the news that Middle Waves will have rock sculptures this year (among other delights).

The 2017 edition of the non-profit music festival happens September 15 and 16 in Headwaters Park East and West.

Describing Middle Waves as a mere music festival is a little like describing Austin, Texas as a mere cowtown.

While it is true that Middle Waves aims to bring an exciting and atypically varied mix of contemporary musicians to several stages, the festival also tries to make the event so diverse that an attendee could, hypothetically, enjoy himself or herself without hearing a note of music.

Middle Waves’ word for these extras and embellishments is “vibes.”

One of the festival’s organizers, Matt Kelley, said the vibes aspect of Middle Waves will be punched up this year.

In addition to the rock sculptures, there will giant pink flamingos, a VW Bus cruise-in (of sorts), art installations and a festival-within-the-festival called Mini Waves.

Even though Middle Waves strives to be a family-friendly phenomenon, Kelley said the event’s organizers wanted to add an element that was specifically designed for kids.

Mini Waves (happening from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on September 16) will include a face painting, balloon twisting, a unicorn meet-and-greet, an exotic petting zoo and a hands-on musical equipment display provided by Sweetwater Sound.

Kelley said Mini Waves might become a separate event in the future.

An innovation from the inaugural edition of Middle Waves has wisely been carried over from last year to this.

Most festivals in Headwaters Park West use the main pavilion for musical performances.

Middle Waves uses it as a village for food trucks and sellers of wares.

This strategy not kept only people out of the rain last year, but it kept them on their toes.

Which is to say, it made them see Headwaters Park West in a different light.

“We have all seen so much music in that pavilion that – if you wanted it to feel new – you almost had to invert it,” Kelley said.

Kelley said there will be many more vendors this year.

Last year, some potential vendors were reluctant to get involved because they did not quite understand the festival.

Understanding had since grown.

Another objective of all these vibes, he said, is to let people who can’t afford the cost of a ticket know that they can enjoy the festival.

Kelley said a few captains of various industries have expressed confusion about all the free stuff Middle Waves offers and why it offers it.

“Two of three stages are free and the village is free,” he said. “We don’t want it just to be for people of a certain economic means”

Whereas most area music festivals stick to one genre, Middle Waves showcases a little of everything: pop, rock, soul, techno, punk, hip-hop, Americana and fusions of several of those musical genera.

The headline act this year MGMT, a psychedelic pop band known to most for their singles, “Electric Feel” and “Time to Pretend.”

Other national acts scheduled to perform at this year’s Middle Waves include Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Super Duper Kyle, Shannon & The Clams, The Lemon Twigs, Flint Eastwood and Selector Dub Narcotic.

Kelley said the festival has tried to provide more party- and dance-oriented hip-hop this year in answer to customer complaints.

One of the goals of the festival’s organizers this year was to “tighten” everything: simplify processes, streamline the flow, etc.

A major challenge last year had to do with local excise laws that prohibited alcohol purchased on one side of the street from being carried to the other side of the street.

That prohibition is still in effect, Kelley said, but there is a loophole.

“One thing they are allowing us to do this year is that you can go underneath the street at the MLK Bridge,” he said.

The enthusiastic and effusive response to Middle Waves last year was unexpected and heartening, Kelley said.

“One of the biggest surprises for us was the passion with which the community claimed it as its own,” he said.

Kelley said heavy rains made setting up the Flaming Lips show last year difficult, but patrons were up for any and all challenges.

“It was a soupy mess,” he said, “We had all this hay coming in and patrons joined us on the back of these pickup trucks and helped us spread hay.”

“I thought, ‘They paid to be here and they’re getting muddy,’” Kelley said. “That was just huge for us. People were helping carry amps. The positivity we felt during and after the event – it was more than we’d hoped for.”