Everything You Need to Know About Alternating Currents 2021

Alternating Currents has grown into one of the largest, most anticipated cultural events in Downtown Davenport. Since its inception, the festival has grown exponentially, both in terms of attendance and overall artistic quality. Now celebrating its fourth year, Alternating Currents has firmly cemented itself as one of the Quad Cities premier summer festivals that offers something for everyone interested in live music, film, comedy and cutting-edge art installations from all over.

August 19-22, 2021, downtown Davenport is gonna be hoppin!

AND IT'S ALL FREE!

What Is It?

The Alternating Currents Music Festival is a 4-day music festival held in Downtown Davenport, Iowa. The event is spread across multiple stages, in various businesses, streets & alleys around town. Each venue features its own unique acts and setting, providing patrons with one of a kind performances from new and established artists alike.

It's pretty freaking cool.

Who's Performing?

Musicians like Al Sweet, Backyard Tire Fire and The Magi.

Film screenings with movies like "A Bridge Too Far from Hero Street" and "The Sandlot"

Comedy from Bobby Ray Bunch and Nick Thune.

Download their App

There are HUNDREDS of performers and exhibits all around so the best way to do it is to download the app and pick & choose who you'd like to see before you go down town. You're going to get overwhelmed with the options so do yourself a favor and get the app! Click here.

This is a great way to check out some of Downtown Davenport's amazing restaurants, bars, and live music venues. No matter what you're in to, there is a spot in Downtown Davenport for you during Alternating Currents 2021.

Check Out the Best-Selling Album From the Year You Graduated High School

Do you remember the top album from the year you graduated high school? Stacker analyzed Billboard data to determine just that, looking at the best-selling album from every year going all the way back to 1956. Sales data is included only from 1992 onward when Nielsen's SoundScan began gathering computerized figures.

Going in chronological order from 1956 to 2020, we present the best-selling album from the year you graduated high school.

Iowa's Island City

There is something unique about every town, but there is really something special about Sabula, IA. Known as "Iowa's Island City," Sabula is the only town in the state of Iowa that is entirely on an island. While not a lot of people have been to, or live in Sabula, it is a quaint little town nestled right on the Mississippi River.

Before we show you around "Iowa's Island City," let me give you the history of Sabula. Sabula was established in 1835, according History of Jackson County, Iowa, Volume 1 by James Whitcomb Ellis. Isaac Dorman and a man named Hinkley crossed the river from the Illinois side on a log and decided to settle on what is now Sabula. An Ohio couple, James and Margaret Woods would settle on Sabula about a year later in April of 1836. Their son, Dr. E. A. Woods would purchase Hinkley's interest in the claim. Charles Swan and W. H. Brown would soon purchase Dorman's interest. The three men, Woods, Swan and Brown later had the land plotted in 1837.

The idea behind plotting the land was because there was no town between Lyons (north Clinton) and Bellevue. The plot of the new town was recorded in Dubuque as this area was part of Dubuque county at the time, according History of Jackson County, Iowa, Volume 1 by James Whitcomb Ellis.

According to Island City Harbor's website, Sabula went through a few names before landing on the official town name. In 1837, Sabula was first called Carrollport. Residents of the town didn't like the name because there was a man's name who was Carroll who had a bad reputation. The town changed its name to Charleston, after early settler Charles Swan. The only issue was that there was already a town called Charleston in Iowa which caused much confusion.

In 1846 the settler’s decided to find a name. Island City Harbor's website says that because of it’s sandy soil, William Hubble suggested the town be called "Sabulum" which is Latin for sand. A party was being held around the time the town name was being discussed, when a woman, supposed to be Miss Harriet Hudson, suggested the town be called Sabula as it was easier to pronounce and sounded more elegant, according History of Jackson County, Iowa, Volume 1 by James Whitcomb Ellis.

Sabula did not actually become an island until 1939. According to Wikipedia, in the 1930's, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed the lock and dam system. In 1939, Lock and Dam No. 13 between Clinton, IA and Fulton, IL was built which caused the bottomlands west of the town permanently flooded. With the Mississippi River east of the town, this created the "Island City." A levee was built around Sabula in 1957 for protection, according to Island City Harbor's website. This also allowed for the south sand pit to be turned into a boat harbor.

I would like to thank my mom Beth, her fiancé Matt, my brother Nolan and my wife Ellie for accompanying me to Sabula. We always have a blast on our trips and this one was no exception.

It's now time to introduce you to Sabula, Iowa, Iowa's Island City.

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