The full lineup of 334 artists has been released for what’s being billed as Florida’s largest free music festival.
This year’s Sing Out Loud Festival in St. Augustine runs from Sept. 6 to Sept. 29 at venues throughout the city that include The Amp, Nobby’s and Dog Rose Brewing Co.
Sing Out Loud spokeswoman Dianya Markovits said after three years, venue owners and residents are beginning to see the event is here to stay – at a time the tourism hot spot needs it most.
“I think we've really turned a corner where people are pre planning for this festival now in September. They're making sure they're prepared. A lot of the businesses are making sure that they're staffed because generally September is such a low time for people to come to our area,” she said.
Payment for the performers is fully funded by the St. Johns County Tourism Development Council and corporate sponsors. Editor's note: WJCT is a corporate partner this year.
The headliners this year include Grammy award-winning country music star Kacey Musgraves, retro soul group St. Paul & The Broken Bones, indie pop songstress Jenny Lewis, lo-fi guitar hero Kurt Vile and hundreds of other performers.
In all, 334 artists ranging in genres from indie rock, Americana, blues, hip-hop and electronica to spoken word, bluegrass, punk rock, jazz and comedy are scheduled to perform.
Every performance is free and open to the public with exception of the Saturday, Sept. 21, Kacey Musgraves Benefit Concert at the Amp featuring opening act Weyes Blood. That show sold out almost immediately after tickets went on sale in March, organizers say.
“People can come into any of the venues at any time as long as they're not at capacity. And we kind of call it 'the trick or treating of live entertainment' because you can literally go from venue to venue to venue and walk in and out and see music. You don't have to have a ticket,” Markovits said.
Since its inception in 2016, an estimated 75,000 fans have attended Sing Out Loud, raising more than $100,000 for charitable organizations such as the Betty Griffin House of St. Johns County, United Way and the OneOrlando Fund.
“In today's day and age when you've got festival tickets going for $150 just to get in the door, you know, and you've got VIP tickets going for $500, $600, we put on this massive music festival with these headliners and all these amazing local and regional acts for free…it takes a while, takes a couple years for people to really trust that. And I think we're getting to that point,” she said.
Additional information is available at the Sing Out Loud Festival website.
This story was updated on 7/31 with comment from the festival spokeswoman.
