The best music festivals are much more than just curated lineups of top-selling artists; they’re opportunities for communities to gather and celebrate life, creativity, and togetherness. It is common for communities to form around particular events, returning year after year to strengthen their bond and growing over time, but in the case of Levitate Music & Arts Festival, the community came first.
Founded in 2013, the festival was originally held to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Levitate, a community-focused surf and skate shop that expanded to include an outdoor restaurant and music and events venue through local support and grassroots marketing. The core values of community, creativity, and connectedness to nature have been woven through all aspects of Levitate’s growth.
“Levitate started out as a napkin-plan dream based out of the original surf shop,” said Levitate Owner and Producer Dan Hassett. “Over the last 20 years we’ve been so lucky to grow beyond our surf and skate roots with this incredible community that has formed through the deeper roots of creativity and connectedness that inspired Levitate in the first place.”
Levitate continues to serve the community and foster creativity by providing free music daily at its backyard music venue, with ticketed shows from national acts sprinkled throughout the year, and by hosting outdoor and creative summer camps for kids as well as two yearly festivals, Levitate Flannel Jam and the flagship Levitate Music & Arts Festival. Last year, the festival celebrated its ten-year anniversary and over the past decade has grown alongside the shop, nurtured by the community.
This year, Levitate is gearing up for its biggest year yet, with a festival lineup that reflects its roots in the surf and skate community. Topping the bill are ska-punk legends Sublime featuring Jakob Nowell, son of founding singer Bradley Nowell, alongside the surviving members of the original lineup Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson, who will play their first and only live Northeast performance at the festival. Reggae rockers Dirty Heads, Iration, and The Elovaters will keep the vibrations high, representing surf and skate culture.
Levitate looked to the community’s recommendations to help curate a roster of national touring acts alongside regional favorites and rising stars including Joe Samba, Stolen Gin, Mark King Band, The Rins, and Lee Ross.
Other top-billed acts include pop-soul standouts Lake Street Dive, indie-folk quintet Mt. Joy, Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tash Sultana, country cowboy Charley Crockett, viral folksinger Oliver Anthony (who will play his first-ever New England performance), funk phenom Cory Wong, and Goose offshoot Orebolo, and that is just the start of the extensive artist lineup. Rounding out the undercard are Ziggy Alberts, G. Love & Special Sauce, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Neal Francis, Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners, The Hip Abduction, Little Stranger, The Moss, Karina Rykman, Joe Samba, Grace Bowers, Jon Muq, Stolen Gin, Mark King Band, The Rins, and Lee Ross.
The festival will also offer a wide range of experiences from live art installations, a muralist gallery, and an artisan fair to kids activities including the kids zone run by Levitate Camp Counselors which encourages creativity and a shared love of the outdoors with the next generation. Leaning into the creative experience has been a key piece of Levitate’s growth and inspiration as a brand:
“As an artist myself, it’s been so rewarding to see people come together over creativity and the arts of all sorts,” said owner and Creative Director Jess Hassett. “Being a part of a community like this has always been a dream, and so to see it come together right in our backyard is so inspiring – it makes me want to keep pushing my own creativity forward and I know others feel the same.”
In addition to providing a home for community and creativity, Levitate supports the arts and education through the recently launched nonprofit Levitate Foundation 501(c)(3), whose mission is to cultivate vibrant communities by creating and conserving access to music, art, and the outdoors. One percent of each ticket sold will be donated to the Foundation.
Tickets for Levitate Music & Arts Festival are on sale now. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the festival website.
