This Weekend in West Palm Beach - Sunfest Rocks It

Lenny Kravitz is one of the headliners

The downtown waterfront area of West Palm Beach hosts the 33^rd annual SunFest this weekend, April 29-May 3.

The eclectic musical roster includes Fall Out Boy, Pixies, Lenny Kravitz, Paramore, Hozier, Kaskade, BOSTON, Sammy Hagar and the Circle, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Wilco, 311, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, SOJA, Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington, AWOLNATION, Lindsey Stirling, Matisyahu, Iration, Milky Chance, ScHoolboy Q, Eddie Money, John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band, Letts, The Shadowboxers, Bo Ningen, Lizzo, Copeland, Knox Hamilton, Hundred Waters, Kehlani, Bea Miller, Zeale, Dreamers, Spazmatics, Elliot Root, Johnnyswim, SomeKindaWonderful, The Hip Abduction,The Rico Monaco Band, Dear Tatiana, Dew Pendleton Band, FELICITY, Jonnie Morgan Band, JS THE BEST, Jumbo Shrimp, Kasson Leaving Haven, Morning Fatty, Sidereal, The Inverted, The McNaughstys, Trial by Stone, and YARDIJ. 

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

This is a huge (100,000-plus crowd) street festival, not a camping festival, so you will have to arrange lodging. It runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29 and Thursday, May 1, then from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, May 1, and kicks off at noon on Saturday May 2 and Sunday May 3. The fest closes out with a fireworks show at 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Kids 5 and under are free, and kids aged 6-12 are $10 a day advanced and $12 a day at the gate. There are lots of multi-day ticket bundles for kids and adults. A 5-day adult pass, for example, is $70 advanced and $80 at the gate. Check out the options here.

You can use the Sunrail trains, and you can also reserve parking spots ahead of time here.

Zach Deputy, Col. Bruce Hampton headline Swamptown Getdown in Ga. This Weekend

Zach Deputy headlines

The intimate, laid-back Swamptown Getdown happens this weekend (April 24-26) at the Okeefenokee Fairgrounds in Waycross, Ga.


This is a family-friendly bargain camping festival. Kids 12 and under are free. Adult tickets, which include primitive camping, are only $45 for the weekend  ($35 for student/military tickets.) There are showers and bathrooms on site, as well as food and craft vendors.

No alcohol will be for sale, but you can bring your own cooler, no problem.

You can also bring pets! Here is a look at the lineup:

 Zach Deputy
Col. Bruce Hampton and The Madrid Express
Back From The Brink
Beauty & the Beard
Chillakaya1
Copperhead
dangfly
Droppers
Lazy Lightning
Lowdive
Mojo Bone
My First Circus
The Pine Box Dwellers
Thunderbird
Uncle Dave and The Younguns
The Woodgrains
Kris Bell Band
Red on Red

If you want to bring an RV, there are some electric and water hookups and you can buy an RV pass for $30 on the fest website. This is going to be a chill time in a great place.

SunFest in West Palm Beach

Lenny Kravitz is one of the headliners

The downtown waterfront area of West Palm Beach hosts the 33^rd annual SunFest April 29-May 3.

The eclectic musical roster includes Fall Out Boy, Pixies, Lenny Kravitz, Paramore, Hozier, Kaskade, BOSTON, Sammy Hagar and the Circle, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Wilco, 311, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, SOJA, Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington, AWOLNATION, Lindsey Stirling, Matisyahu, Iration, Milky Chance, ScHoolboy Q, Eddie Money, John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band, Letts, The Shadowboxers, Bo Ningen, Lizzo, Copeland, Knox Hamilton, Hundred Waters, Kehlani, Bea Miller, Zeale, Dreamers, Spazmatics, Elliot Root, Johnnyswim, SomeKindaWonderful, The Hip Abduction,The Rico Monaco Band, Dear Tatiana, Dew Pendleton Band, FELICITY, Jonnie Morgan Band, JS THE BEST, Jumbo Shrimp, Kasson Leaving Haven, Morning Fatty, Sidereal, The Inverted, The McNaughstys, Trial by Stone, and YARDIJ. 

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

This is a huge (100,000-plus crowd) street festival, not a camping festival, so you will have to arrange lodging. It runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29 and Thursday, May 1, then from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, May 1, and kicks off at noon on Saturday May 2 and Sunday May 3. The fest closes out with a fireworks show at 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Kids 5 and under are free, and kids aged 6-12 are $10 a day advanced and $12 a day at the gate. There are lots of multi-day ticket bundles for kids and adults. A 5-day adult pass, for example, is $70 advanced and $80 at the gate. Check out the options here.

You can use the Sunrail trains, and you can also reserve parking spots ahead of time here.

WANEE Festival This Week!

festgrrl photo

Wanee, one of the biggest and finest festivals in our region, kicks off  this week with a Grateful Happy Hour pre-party on Wednesday April 15. 

The festival proper happens at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla. from Thursday April 16 through Saturday April 18. Wanee is always an excellent time; festgrrl has seen some of the best shows of her life at this annual gathering in the North Florida woods. 

Gregg Allman playing Wanee last year. Josh Webster photo

The Allman Brothers have held this festival for lo these many years, and this year will definitely be different without the Brothers in their familiar configuration taking the stage each evening. Still, Gregg Allman will play for us, as will Jaimoe's Jassz Band and Butch Trucks and Very Special Friends (Derek and Susan? One can hope. )


Widespread Panic headlines Friday and Saturday nights, the rest of the line-up includes: Gov’t Mule ¤ Earth, Wind & Fire ¤ Cheap Trick ¤ The Word featuring: Robert Randolph, John Medeski, Luther Dickinson, Cody Dickinson & Chris Chew ¤ Hot Tuna Electric ¤ JJ Grey & Mofro ¤ Galactic ¤ Zappa Plays Zappa ¤ Leftover Salmon featuring Bill Payne ¤ Yonder Mountain String Band ¤ Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk ¤ Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes featuring Doyle Bramhall II ¤ Raw Oyster Cult ¤  Dragon Smoke ¤ The Revivalists ¤ Home At Last - The Nth Power Performs Steely Dan ¤ Tea Leaf Green ¤ Bobby Lee Rogers Trio ¤ Pink Talking Fish ¤ Eric Lindell & Company ¤ Royal Southern Brotherhood ¤ Natural Child ¤ Twiddle ¤ Jacob Jeffries Band ¤ Juke. 

The park's lovely lake camping area. festgrrl photo

A 3-day ticket (which includes primitive camping) is $215 (plus $23 service fee.) Keep in mind that Wanee's crowd is larger than most festivals at Spirit of the Suwannee, so stock up on supplies and bring a lightweight chair to carry to the shows.

Wednesday's very cool Happy Hour lineup is included with your 3-day ticket price, but be aware that there's a $20 per person camping fee to attend Wednesday's shows. 

Totally worth it: the Happy Hour lineup includes Melvin Seals & JGB along with Crazyfingers, Cope, Juke, The Parker Urban Band and Bonnie Blue. Wednesday's shows happen in the ampitheater, starting at 3 p.m.

festgrrl is telling you all this so you can plan now to get there as early as you can next week, I promise that you'll be so very, very glad you did. 

"Nuff said. festgrrl photo