Purple Hatters Ball, Y'all

Rachel Hoffman

Update: Go to the festgrrl Facebook page to check out photos and coverage of the The Purple Hatters Ball -- as long as the cell signal holds out!

The Purple Hatters Ball  happens this coming weekend (May 9-11) at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla. This sweet little fest, in its seventh year,  honors the life of Rachel Morningstar Hoffman, a festgoer who loved to sport a purple hat. Rachel senselessly lost her life during a drug string botched by law enforcement. Her death sparked changes in law. Rachel's parents and friends gather each year to remember her and listen to the music she loved in the place she loved.

A three-day weekend ticket (which includes primitive camping)  is $100. A ticket to the Thursday night pre-party is $20.

This is a smallish fest, and it tends to skew toward younger college and post-college folks. Very sweet crowd and danceable music all weekend long. The excellent Colorado funk band, The Motet, closes out the festival Sunday night.

The lineup:

Beats Antique • Emancipator Ensemble • The New Mastersounds • The Motet • The Floozies • The Nth Power • Space Capone • Rising Appalachia • The Heavy Pets • The Fritz • DubConscious • Greenhouse Lounge • Catfish Alliance • Avis Berry & Scott Campbell Band • Locos Por Juana • Grandpa’s Cough Medicine • Applebutter Express • Stillwood • Ketchy Shuby • Trial By Stone • Cherry Royale • Shoes and Laces • S.P.O.R.E. • Herd of Watts • Parker Urban Band • Squeedlepuss • Jason Lamar & The Rig • Jacksonvegas • Love Chunk • Stereo Vudu • DJ Ruby • Morning Fatty • Flat Land • Antique Animals • Hail Cassius Neptune • Universal Green • Bells and Robes • MSNRA • Parker Robinson • Yankee Slickers • Famato