URBANA - If Athens, Ga., can have its Athfest and, if Austin, Texas, can have its South By Southwest Music Fest, why can't the Midwest have an indie rock fest all its own?

Actually, for the past four years it has.

This weekend's Pygmalion Music Festival in Champaign-Urbana (tonight through Saturday) has grown in both numbers and renown since it arrived in the fall of 2005.

Pygmalion 2008 has managed to amass more than 80 national and regional acts, topped off by headliners like Yo La Tengo, Dan Deacon and Black Mountain.

In addition, the event has adopted a town-and-gown motif, straddling both prestigious University of Illinois venues like the Krannert Center and the Krannert Art Museum, and, in the same neighborhood, C-U's premier live music outlet, The Canopy Club (across the street from the Krannert Center).

A half-dozen more venues in both the Krannert area (Red Herring, Courtyard Café, Blues BBQ) and downtown Champaign (Mike N' Molly's, Jennifer North, Exile on Main Street) round out the itinerary.

Credit C-U's Seth Fein, an assistant talent buyer for the Canopy Club, who had looked on in admiration at the above-named indie music fests for years.

A working musician who had moved into the promotional and administrative end of the performing world, he found himself attending these fests, including the 2005 Athfest.

Fein decided he wanted to see a fest like that come to Central Illinois. And within literally a month or two, he'd whipped up the first Pygmalion Music Festival for the fall of 2005.

Though the name has its mythological and Shavian implications, Fein confesses that it hails from the name of the last album by "one of my favorite bands," the British group, Slowdive (1989-95).

Fein's concept was to corral a mix of national and local acts and distribute them over an array of venues, with a single-priced weekend pass available to those who wanted to have it all (this year's pass goes for $50).

In the early going, around 51 bands were distributed over six venues, with 80 percent of those acts local. "I knew from the beginning that eventually the main acts were going to be national bands," says Fein, a goal facilitated when the Krannert Center came on board the second year. (Now there are 40 or so national acts and 40 or so regional-local bands.)

"Krannert's director, Mike Ross, has been very hell-bent on making sure people understand that Krannert is not the stuffy place it once was," says Fein. "And I thought it would be cool to put what are traditional indie rock acts into a theater setting like that and mash it up."

Hence, Krannert's three years of involvement with Pygmalion (this year, it plays host to Yo La Tengo at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Grampall Jookabox, PWRFLl Power and High Places at 9:30 p.m. that same night). Also roped into the mix this year is another tony campus venue, the Krannert Art Museum.

Though some of the festival extends to the downtown Champaign club scene, the bulk of the festival is contained within the "Krannert Entertainment District," a reference to the recent explosion of eateries and businesses in an area traditionally perceived as being somewhat "off-campus" (the Goodwin Avenue area several blocks east of the quad).

Following are festival highlights (for the complete 80-band schedule, to www.pygmalionmusicfestival.com):

• Today: Catfish Haven, 7:15 p.m., Krannert Art Museum; Oxford Collapse, 8:15 p.m., Museum; Evangelicals, 9:15 p.m., Museum; Murder By Death, 10:15 p.m., Museum; Monotonix, 10:30 p.m., Canopy Club; Dark Meat, 11:30 p.m., Canopy; Dan Deacon, 12:30 a.m., Canopy.

• Friday: Owen, 8:15 p.m., Krannert Art Museum; Tao with the Get Sown Stay Down, 9:15 p.m., Museum; Pattern Is Movement, 10:15 p.m. Friday, Canopy Club; Titus Andronicus, 11 p.m., Canopy; Black Mountain, midnight, Canopy; Hood Internet, 1 a.m., Canopy.

• Saturday: Centaur, 7:10 p.m., Canopy Club; Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, 7:30 p.m., Krannert Center; Yo La Tengo, 8:30 p.m. Krannert Center; PWFRL Power, Grampall Jookabox, High Places, 9:30 p.m., Krannert Center; The M's, 10:45 p.m., Canopy; Headlights, 11:45 p.m., Canopy; Asobi Seksu, 12:45 a.m., Canopy.

At a glance

What: Pygmalion Music Festival 2008

When: Thursday through Saturday

Where: Krannert Entertainment District, Urbana (Krannert Center, Canopy Club, Red Herring, Krannert Art Museum, Blues BBQ, Courtyard Café) and downtown Champaign (Mike N' Molly's, Jennifer North and Exile on Main Street)

Tickets: $50 (weekend pass good at all venues); $5-$25 (individual tickets)

Information: www.pygmalionmusicfestival.com