The annual Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance will return for its ninth communal gathering on March 11th–13th, 2022 after a two-year, pandemic-induced hiatus [get tickets].
Taking place at the historic Virginia Key Beach Park in sunny Miami, FL, the lineup for the 2022 event is as eclectic and diverse as the community it calls home. The three-day, three-stage, family-friendly experience will blend the best of Americana, Latin, folk, roots, and world music right from the sandy beaches of the Atlantic Ocean.
As always, festival founders and Americana stalwarts Donna The Buffalo will host the multi-day celebration of Miami’s cultural and musical heritage just minutes from the heart of the city. The genre-fluid five-piece will host a sunset performance on Saturday, March 12th, day two of the event, followed by a festival-closing set on Sunday night.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival without the inclusion of Miami’s most celebrated and critically acclaimed musicians. The Magic City-bred, Grammy Award-nominated Locos Por Juana will serve as the Friday night headliner, bringing its high-energy fusion of reggae, funk, cumbia, salsa, and rock to the festival’s “Dance Tent” on March 11th. Locos Por Juana won’t be the only Grammy Award nominee on the lineup either, as pedal steel icon Roosevelt Collier and the GrassRoots Get Down will host a hair raising, funk-infused, dance-inducing extravaganza on Saturday ahead of Pepe Montes Conjunto and his traditional Cuban music on the “Orange Pavilion” stage.
From top to bottom, the spirit of Miami runs through the entirety of this wide-ranging lineup. Whether it’s Los Wizzards and their ability to blend a flavorful array of cultures into their jazz-infused instrumentation, Electric Kif and its exploration of rock and jazz fusion, the empowerment and activism of Jesus Hidalgo, or artists like Richie Stearns, Cortadito, Fabi, Elastic Bond, and Afrobeta, Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance will affirm and galvanize the pride that so many feel for the city.
Other than the non-stop music from beginning to end, the festival will offer a variety of community-building activities including a sustainability fair, yoga, live art, music workshops, dance workshops, and more. Outside of the festival grounds lies miles of nature trails rife with spots for hiking, camping, and enjoying the ocean.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places originally as the Coloreds Only beach for Miami-Dade County, Historic Virginia Key Beach Park has undergone a revitalization starting in 1999. As a committed partner since producing the first Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival in 2012, the non-profit GrassRoots Organization and its numerous volunteers have contributed each year to building working replicas of the original structures that existed during the park’s heyday including six small rental cabins, a Tea House, a Lifeguard & First Aid Office, a Mini Train Ticket Booth, and a Beach Shack.
Click here for tickets to Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance and check out the full lineup for March 11th–13th at Virginia Key Beach Park in Miami, FL.
