SunFest is gone, but a new downtown event called the 561 Music Festival wants to ensure lovers of live music have something to look forward to at the West Palm waterfront this weekend.
SunFest 2024 lineup for West Palm Beach’s largest music festival
At this year’s biggest music festival in Palm Beach County, artists performing at SunFest are being grouped by day and stage to attract fans of individual genres.
- The 561 Music Festival will take place at the Meyer Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach on May 3rd, filling the void left by SunFest’s cancellation.
- The free festival will feature 20 local bands, art vendors, and food trucks, harkening back to SunFest’s community-focused origins.
Like thousands of Palm Beach County residents, local musician Hector Diaz was sad to learn SunFest would not hold its annual music festival this year on West Palm Beach’s downtown waterfront.
But when the beloved 42-year event went dark, Diaz also saw an opportunity.
For three years he and his bandmates had organized a small festival at a Lake Worth Beach brewery to promote local musical acts. Maybe, now, there was a chance to grow.
“We’re not SunFest,” he said. “We’re not anywhere near the size and we’re not trying to replace SunFest. But we’re trying to fill that void.”
Almost on a lark, Diaz called West Palm Beach’s city government to see if the Meyer Amphitheatre along Flagler Avenue downtown would be available the first Saturday in May, on the weekend when SunFest used to take place.
The answer, it turned out, was yes.
There was a 26-page permit application, a fee and a whole lot of logistical issues. But in the end Diaz found that he, his bandmates and a host of friends and volunteers were putting on the festival in a new, bigger locale.
Thanks to their efforts, lovers of live music will have something to look forward to downtown on Saturday, May 3 – even with SunFest gone.
561 Music Festival: Twenty bands will play on two stages
The 561 Music Festival will feature 20 bands on two stages in the Meyer Amphitheatre and will be free to attend.
Obviously, it will be a far smaller event that SunFest, which paid top dollar for A-list musicians and occupied a much larger footprint along the downtown waterfront.
But Diaz and bandmate Ben Childs said that their event harkens back to SunFest’s historic roots as a community-centered event. The entire lineup will be bands from South Florida and the Treasure Coast. Like earlier iterations of SunFest, it will feature art vendors, too.
“That was absolutely by design,” said Diaz, who was born and raised in West Palm Beach and attended SunFest for decades. “When SunFest used to be a very local event for the locals, that’s kind of our grassroots.”
The 561 Music Festival grew out of Diaz’s efforts to promote the local music scene.
He is one part of a trio known as the Killbillies, a folk-roots band that has been performing since 2010. He and his bandmates also produce a weekly podcast called the 561 Music Podcast, which features interviews with local musicians and venue owners.
Last year’s festival was a ticketed event held at Mathews Brewing Company in Lake Worth Beach, where it attracted around 800 people.
This year’s event entails an entirely different level of complexity.
“All of a sudden, now we have to have off-duty police presence, we have to have the fire department, we have to have permits, we have to have a licensed-and-bonded janitor company,” he said. “Our costs jumped exponentially.”
But expanding the event also drew a new level of support. The group drew financial backing from the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County and from The Palm Beaches, the county government’s tourism marketing arm.
It also won a major sponsorship from local law firm Steinger, Greene & Feiner. All the financial support is allowing the festival to operate without charging for entry. As a free event in a larger, more high-profile venue, the organizers are expecting a larger turnout. But they’re not sure just how large.
“People have been talking about thousands of people, so we’re just going to have to see,” Childs said.
Both Childs and Diaz called the planning nerve-wracking. But they said the possibility of expanding their event to meet a newfound community need was a special sensation.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Diaz said. “It’s a whole different animal. We’re definitely at a different level. Anxiety aside, it’s overwhelming, exciting. We’re thrilled to be doing this.”
561 Music Festival: If you go
- Where: Meyer Amphitheatre, 104 Datura St., West Palm Beach
- When: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, May 3
- Cost: Free
- Children: Allowed
- Pets: Allowed but must remain leashed
- Entertainment: 20 local bands, art vendors and food trucks
- Access: Parking available in the city’s downtown parking garages nearby.
- Information: Visit 561musicfestival.com for more details.
The 20 bands scheduled to perform
- Mason Pace
- Stryder
- Tiger Sunset
- Beeline
- Jutt Huffman Band
- Stony Fools
- Closer To The Ocean
- Slo Funk Pump
- Blabscam!
- Jakob Takos & The Connection
- Medicine Room
- Shakers
- ¡FUÁKATA!
- Billy Doom Is Dead
- Ryan Hopkins Band
- Wrasse
- Off Orbit
- Modern Odyssey
- The Little Things
- Reverse Oreo
Do you have a fond memory of SunFest? We want to hear from you!
We would love to hear about your favorite SunFest memory. Please fill out our poll below. Your submission may be used in a future story on West Palm Beach’s favorite festival.
Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected].
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.palmbeachpost.com ’
