The party, a gathering of friends with like-minded tastes in music, ran for 13 years, getting bigger and bigger every year.

"It turned into an event where we would get 300 people, 400 people in my backyard," Lepp said.

Last year, Lepp and friend singer-songwriter Roger Marin decided to expand on the music-themed party and turn it into a festival, as both have long wanted one based in Niagara to showcase local musical talent. The result was Cicada Fest 2007, a three-day event held last August at the Serbian Picnic Grounds in Niagara Falls that featured local talent along with a few performers Marin met from his years of touring through Canada and the U.S.

Lepp said Cicada Fest 2007, which attracted about 600 people, suffered from poor weather, as well as a lack of awareness in Niagara Falls, since most of their friends are in St. Catharines. However, it was successful enough to encourage them to continue.

"For a first event, last year was brilliant," he said.

Lepp said this year's festival, right beside the lake at Club LaSalle, has the potential to be much bigger, partly because it is just around the corner from the venues in St. Catharines that host this type of music, places like Merchant Ale House and Kilt and Clover.

"We know better how to promote it here because this is our stomping grounds," he said.

Marin said the festival is meant to bring attention to musicians who currently have a low profile and rarely get a chance to play in venues like this.

"My idea is to just get bands that are not huge and don't have the opportunity to play in festivals," he said.

"My idea is to get bands that are out there working hard and deserve to be playing all these festivals."

Cicada Fest is still in the building stage and Marin said his contacts on the road who have agreed to play will not be getting paid much. Generally, though, they are able to make the trek because they are on tour anyway and are making the festival a stop between gigs, he said.

Eventually, he said, he hopes Cicada Fest becomes big enough that these same acts will be able to use the event as an anchor gig to support other festivals.

The event starts 4 p.m. on July 4, running until midnight. The festival continues Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight and Sunday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. For out of town visitors, there is camping on the Club La Salle grounds.

Tickets are $12 a day, $30 for a three-day pass and $90 for a three-day pass with camping. They can be purchased from Club La Salle at 111 Arthur St., Merchant Ale House at 98 St. Paul St., Kilt and Clover at 17 Lock St., The Office at 33 James St., and Music City at 353 Lake St.