Music and art events are coming back across South Florida after last year’s cancellations. Country music star Brooke Eden is also back in her native West Palm Beach, after a 5-year hiatus, to headline the city’s tenth-annual Holiday in Paradise celebration — which takes place throughout December.
Eden says interactions with music fans have been more intense since live concerts made a comeback.
“For so long we all took it for granted that we could just pop into a concert and that was just our evening and for a year and half, that was kind of taken away from us because of the pandemic," said Eden. “It’s almost like taking it away for a year caused people to double their enthusiasm.”
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Eden describes her music as “country-soul,” a range of influences from '90s country music to Etta James. She says community gatherings are one of the best ways to foster human connections and create more influences.
She had to change the way in which she connected with audiences during the shutdown in the early stages of the pandemic.
"I did a lot of Instagram Lives and Facebook Lives, and just a lot of shows over the internet," Eden said.
The return of live music has improved her mental wellbeing, too.
“Cultural institutions and live music are such integral parts of us as humans,” said Eden. “And I think that for our mental state, it’s really important for us to have the arts in our lives.”
From nightly light shows to mini-golf, the month-long schedule of activities at Holiday in Paradise also includes the lighting of Sandi, a 35-foot, 700-ton sand tree.
Eden is headlining the outdoor event on Dec. 2 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Waterfront Commons on Clematis Street.
