SunFest, the eclectic festival on West Palm Beach’s Intracoastal Waterway, is returning after a two year pandemic hiatus. About 50 performers from Slightly Stoopid and Black Pumas to Lil Wayne and Sam Hunt will hit three stages in four days alongside art installations and food vendors.
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Musicians throughout Palm Beach County say the link between music and community is undeniable. Matt Brown is a multi-instrumentalist, community advocate, and co-founder of the arts collective Soulfam.
The West Palm Beach native, who plans to perform with an 8-piece band, says the return of Sunfest is like a form of therapy for the city. The first-time performer said his father, a jazz musician, influenced his perspective about the power of music.
“We all need that positivity to balance out the constant negativity that’s been driven into society from all different angles,” Brown said. “And music is that form that can provide positive influence. Whether you consider yourself a musician or not, my dad used to say ‘we all need listeners.’ "
SunFest is scheduled to run from Thursday, April 28 to Sunday, May 1st.
The festival had partnered with 1909, the non-profit known for cultivating space for creatives, technologists and small startups, to find and showcase "Fresh Local Artists.”
Sko Gudiño, who was also part of the series, is a hip-hop artist and member of SoulFam collective. He's also a first-time performer at SunFest. Gudiño says music has helped him prove doubters wrong and get through these past two years. He calls this year’s music and art festival the “great escape” from pandemic living.
“It’s therapy to write. So if I didn’t have music I can only imagine how I would feel or maybe I would be trapped in like a black hole that I couldn’t get out of,” Gudiño said. "Because everyone has to find a way to get that stuff out and I get it out through music.”
The Fresh Local Artist lineup also includes: American Sigh, Bonn E Maiy, Chris Pierce, Citizen Badger, Crush Company, iDiaz, Indigo Dreamers, Joey Calderaio Band, Public Sounds, Rogue Theory, and Topless in Tokyo.
