This weekend, the portal will open and the first Okeechobee Music Festival will take place in Okeechobee, Fla. from March 3-7. Boasting a lineup consisting of Mumford and Sons, Kendrick Lamar, Skrillex, Robert Plant, Hall & Oates, Fetty Wap, Portugal the Man, Ween and more, the event will be the largest independent music festival in the country.
Under the curation of Soundslinger Entertainment, the event will have five stages in two venues. The first venue, The Grove, will be similar to Centeroo at Bonnaroo or other popular festival grounds, consisting of three stages of music: Be, Here and Now. Moonlight Oasis, the other venue, is modeled after Electric Forest and Burning Man and will focus more on a visual aesthetic than nationally recognized musical talent. It will feature a forested village filled with art installations (Chobeewobee Village), a yoga center (Yogachobee), a daytime beach stage (Aquachobee) and an all night jungle party (Jungle 51). While this seems like an ambitious undertaking for a first year festival, the Soundslinger team is more than qualified to put it together.
Soundslinger, while still very new, should be viewed as The Avengers of the music world. Founded by Paul Peck, one of the founders of Bonnaroo and the curator of the popular Superjams, the entertainment company has hopes to put on multiple events of similar size, scope and talent each year while continuing to operate as an independent company.
These are significant goals, considering independent festivals like Wakarusa and All Good recently announced retirement and Coachella and Bonnaroo have recently sold shares of their event to corporations like Live Nation and AEG. If they are able to manage their funds well and keep their autonomy, they may be able to bring back the grassroots ideals of Woodstock to an industry losing a battle consumerism, which can be reflected in the Bud Light- and Playstation-sponsored stages at Lollapalooza.
Peck will bring his Superjam concept to his new festival and is producing the first ever PowWow! featuring Miguel and Win Butler (Arcade Fire) and a band led by John Oates (Hall & Oates) and Kamasi Washington (Kendrick Lamar). He has also organized a second collaboration to take place during Mumford & Sons headlining set where the band will be joined by The Avett Brothers, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine). Peck and the Soundslinger team promise more surprise collaborations and secret sets that will take place throughout the festival.
Tickets are still available at okeechobeefest.com for students looking to take an extended weekend.
