10 years is a long time for a little music festival put on by an East Coast Surf Shop and yet here we are about to gather for Levitate’s 10th music and arts festival. Levitate Music and Arts Festival started as a 10 year anniversary celebration for the Levitate surf and skate shop and grew to become the festival it is today. Levitate Music and Arts Festival is a gathering on Boston’s South Shore of those who love music, art, and the great outdoors. The festival is a three day celebration with up to a dozen bands playing each day. This year’s Levitate Music and Arts Festival takes place July 7th- July 9th in Marshfield, MA and some categories of tickets are still available here.
Levitate Music Festival has three stages: Stoke Stage (the largest stage), Style Stage and Soul Stage. Music for the festival begins daily at 1:00 p.m. with sets lasting between 45 minutes to a full two hour set for the headliners. While headliners tend to be the most well known bands, in this day and age of social music listening via music streaming apps, and social media apps, you’ll find that fans are here to see all different bands on different sized stages. While I was a teen pre-social media, I do remember seeing smaller bands at Lollapalooza in NYC but the likelihood I would know their music as well as fans do today, is nil.
Headlers are: Stick Figure (Friday), Trey Anastasio Band (Saturday) and Brandi Carlile (Sunday). Stick Figure is a Southern California white reggae band originally from nearby Duxbury, MA whose album Wisdom was the first Reggae project to debut at No. 1, last year, on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in over two years. Their most streamed song (on Spotify) is currently Smokin’ Love with Collie Buddz. Trey Anastasio, co-founder of Phish, branched out on his own in the early 2000s and has explored a variety of musical styles since then, landing on a style that is a little more acoustic, raw and bluesy. One of Anastasio’s top songs is currently Cayman Review. Brandi Carlile, closes out Levitate Music and Arts Festival on Sunday. Carlile is the winner of three of this year’s Grammys and she was at Massachusetts’ Governor Maura Healey’s inauguration in January. Currently Carlile’s most streamed song (on Spotify) is The Story.
In addition to these headliners the lineup is as follows:
Friday Lineup
On Friday, the Marshfield festival will feature the following bands: Stick Figure, Ripe, Lucius, Collie Buddz, The California Honeydrops, Melt, Lespecial, The Q-Tip Bandits and Steve Rondo
Saturday Lineup
Saturday’s festival features: Trey Anastasio Band, Goose, Peach Pit, Celisse, The Elovaters, Donavon Frankenreiter, Lime Cordiale, John Craigie, The Heavy Heavy, The Birch Swart Band, FT. Anna Daley Young
Sunday Lineup
The Levitate Music and Arts Festival concludes with the following line up: Brandi Carlile, Rebelution, Ziggy Marley, Shakey Graves, Larkin Poe, Celisse, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Couch, Veronica Lewis.
Levitate Music Festival has been self described as a grassroots music and arts festival featuring roots, reggae, folk rock and funk music. This year’s line up includes plenty of all types of jam bands, individual singer-songwriters, larger bands, white guy reggae bands who have been making a name for themselves in the reggae world, deep rooted Jamaican reggae, and a splash of pop all to provide a weekend full of music that keeps that chill music festival energy flowing. This diverse group of musicians offers a range of musical styles they all flow together and have many crossovers in both the Venn diagrams of music and life. These musicians are all storytellers whether through words or just a beat.
Family Zone
The Levitate Music and Arts Festival has many layers in addition to live music. There are live visual art experiences, art vendors, and interactive art experiences for when you want to explore something a little different. For families, there is also a kids’ zone, which includes children’s activities set up by the kid zone operators and run by the Levitate camp counselors.
Food Festival Options
You can’t have a festival without food, and Levitate has curated a unique and varied group of over two dozen food vendors for the festival. You will find the following food at Levitate Music and Arts Festival this year:
- Binge BBQ out of Newport, RI
- Cheese Louise from New Hampshire and Portland, ME
- A little New England island food from Nantucket at The Lemon Press
- FreeWheelin’ Pizzeria and Umami Bites all the way from Wooster (not Worcester), Ohio
- Filipino Street Food brought to the Marshfield Fairgrounds by Ginger Love Cafe
- Tacos from Bridgewater’s Gonzalez Food Truck
- For that New England Summer treat Portland, Maine’s The High Roller Lobster Co. will be on hand with lobster rolls and more
- Providence, RI will be bringing the poké with Hometown Poké
- Filipino Lumpias are another great savory festival treat brought to Levitate by the Lumpia Bros.
- Another great hand-held food is an empanada, brought by Matilda
- Menya Jiro will prove to you that ramen from Japan can be festival friendly and they will have other festival friendly foods no doubt too
- Hometown clam shack and bar, Roht Marine will be on hand as well
- Out of Dorchester in Boston, Singh’s Roti Shop is a delicious spot to get some Carribean food
- The Filling Station out of Chatham will have comfort food for all your cravings
- Straight out of Fenway you can have a taste of The Sausage Guy
- Enjoy a VT crêpe courtesy of The Skinny Pancake
- You know if vegan can make it in New Jersey, it has to be good. See what you think when you try Try Vegan
- Garbanzo Mediterranean is a chain that has some pretty tasty plates, bowls, pitas and wraps (especially the stuff that goes on them and in them)
- Every dog has its day and every festival has its dog. Surf Dogz will be serving hot dogs, fries, and such.
- When it is time for a coffee break seek out SlackTide Coffee Roasters
- Satisfy your taco cravings with Tica’s Tacos
- Hunter’s Kitchen out of South Boston will bring a taste of their Southern inspired comfort food
- The Chef’s Table from the area will also be serving their seasonally inspired fare
- The best kind of bar may be a Broccoli Bar out of Burlington VT
Logistics
Once you have your tickets for Levitate, all you need to do is figure out your concert day outfit, pack your day bag and enjoy the day. How well you can enjoy the festival depends on how well prepared you are. Here are a few tips to help you arrive at Levitate Music and Arts Festival prepared.
Pack a bag, but make sure it is a clear bag if it is larger than the size of a clutch (6” x 9”). No bags larger than 12”x 6”x 12” are allowed. In your bag, pack: sunscreen, an empty non-glass water bottle (you can fill it on site), a book if you’re the kind of person that needs some chill solo time in between sets, a hat and/or sunglasses, a small towel or blanket to sit on. For a full list of what cannot be brought in read the FAQs here.
The event takes place rain or shine, but so far I don’t think humans melt in the rain so it should be a good time either way. Some of my favorite festivals have included a rain shower or two. If you bring a dry set of clothes to leave in the car, and a rain coat you will be set for any weather.
Levitate Music Festival is ready to help you and your family lose yourself in a weekend full if music, art, food and community. Tickets can be purchased here. Parking can also be pre-purchased here.
