Since SunFest unveiled its more youthful pop, hip-hop, and country music-centric 2022 musical lineup in February, there’s been no shortage of opinions about it. Just look at Facebook for proof. Or don’t bother.
Yet 40 years after its 1982 inception — and especially after a two-year, COVID-19-necessitated hiatus — it may be time to look backstage, and behind the scenes, of the nonprofit organization that will put on the 38th version of “Florida’s largest waterfront music and art festival” from April 28-May 1.
“Our volunteers are always the heart of our event,” says Paul Jamieson, SunFest’s executive director. “And once this year’s musical lineup was announced, our volunteer coordinator got an overwhelming surge of people wanting to pitch in, which was gratifying. We couldn’t do it without them.”
As Jamieson admits, that response was pleasantly surprising. After canceling SunFest 2020 in the teeth of the pandemic and eventually scrapping what he calls a “SunFest Lite” lineup for 2021 as another viral variant surged, no one knew whether interest would wane or, well, surge for 2022.
“Everyone at SunFest is happy to have this opportunity again,” Jamieson says. “Our volunteers are fired up, too. We were prepared for a higher rate of attrition from our previous volunteers, but we haven’t experienced that, which is great. We’ve also had a nice turnout of new people wanting to volunteer.
“It feels different after the hiatus, but there’s also a degree of familiarity, which is welcome. We’re rebooting back up, and happy to be dealing with such normal things, even if we may be a bit rusty at them. But SunFest fans, like everyone, seem to be yearning for a bit of a return to normalcy too.”
For the more than 2,000 volunteers on more than 20 SunFest committees, the rewards are often immaterial. But they also include free admission and parking on the day of their shifts; free food and drink before or after a shift, a Team SunFest T-shirt, and a complimentary one-day weekend pass if they work Thursday or Friday during the event.
“SunFest is only as good as our volunteers, and we have some great volunteers,” says Ivan Rosa, volunteer committee chair for “The Stand,” in which patrons reserve standing-room spots up front for musical artists.
“It takes 175 volunteers, who collectively put in more than 700 hours to operate ‘The Stand.’ We have a whole team that mans the entrances, scans guest tickets, and distributes wristbands, allowing the guests to come and go,” Rosa said. “Volunteers also admit reentry, and prevent general admission guests from entering the area. All the volunteers from SunFest become like family, and there are many who’ve worked the festival since its inception.”
For those Thursday and/or Friday volunteers, this year’s Saturday and Sunday closers will include Lil Wayne, Adam Lambert, Boyz II Men, and Black Pumas — not exactly the classic rock favored by baby boomers, seemingly the age demographic complaining the loudest on Facebook.
“There just aren’t that many baby boomer acts left with many original members,” says Jamieson. “We’ve never tried to leave any age group out, but if your musical tastes are stuck in Doobie Brothers 8-track tapes, then you might be disappointed. People’s tastes change over time, and no one’s tastes are wrong.
“Did we make a conscious decision over the years to move away from jazz? Yes, and some people didn’t like that,” he said. “When we first booked hip-hop acts, we got a lot of criticism too. But SunFest is a reflection of popular culture, which also changes over time. For a Gen-Xer, an artist like Nelly is practically like their classic rock.”
The SunFest 365 community outreach program additionally promotes and enhances the area’s culture and arts scenes year-round, including college scholarship money toward gifted students. Through its “Helping Neighbors” program, SunFest has also given away thousands of free passes to area charities to distribute to those who might not be able to afford to attend.
“‘Helping Neighbors’ is one of our favorite programs,” Jamieson says, “because it helps bring people out to SunFest who might not be here without it. Some of our volunteers are from other nonprofit programs, and many participate in our food and beverage service areas or work positions at the gates. Their groups get some money back for that, which mutually adds up to more than $100,000 for those groups in the community.
“We also have a mini-SunFest on the Friday morning of the festival, before we even open, for special needs kids who otherwise wouldn’t be able to participate. And we have amazing volunteers who even take off days of work to help the 200 or so kids who attend. A company out of Palm Beach Gardens called the Gehring Group supports this, and it’s one of our favorites as well. It’s great to see the smiles on those kids’ faces.”
Such under-the-radar aspects are among the many constants at SunFest, although Jamieson says that one COVID-19-related change this year is within its ticketing.
“Previously, our one-day and two-day tickets were for any day,” he says. “But we realized this year that no one can have any idea when those people plan to come, which could cause delays if we were in a capacity situation. We’re not necessarily anticipating that situation, but it seemed like a prudent step to change over to primarily electronic ticketing where you have to pick a day, or days, for your one-day or two-day pass before it’s activated.”
The arts and crafts and communal aspects of SunFest are also no less important, though often overshadowed by the quantifiable anticipation of each (nearly) annual festival’s announcement of its musical lineup.
“The theme we’re using this year is ‘Getting the Band Back Together,’“ Jamieson says. “But that’s not just about the music. Our band of volunteers has been looking forward to getting back together too. And SunFest is a community event where you go with a group of friends, and you end up meeting up with another group of friends, and that’s probably what you remember even more than who was performing at the time.”
If You Go
When: 5-10 p.m. April 28, 5-11 p.m. April 29, noon-11 p.m. April 30, noon-9 p.m. May 1
Who: On April 28, see the Andrew Morris Band (6-6:30 p.m.), Kidd G (7-8 p.m.), and Sam Hunt (8:30-9:45 p.m.) on the northern main Ford Stage; Citizen Badger (5:45-6:15 p.m.), Colony House (6:45-7:45 p.m.), and Goo Goo Dolls (8:15-9:30 p.m.) on the Meyer Ampitheater’s central Ideal Nutrition Stage; and American Sigh (6-6:30 p.m.), flipturn (7-8 p.m.), and Rainbow Kitten Surprise (8:30-9:45 p.m.) on the southern LaBovick Law Group Stage.
On April 29, see the Joey Calderaio Band (7-7:30 p.m.), The Main Squeeze (8-9 p.m.), and Slightly Stoopid (9:30-10:45 p.m.) on the Ford Stage; Indigo Dreamers (6:30-7 p.m.), Fancy Hagood (7:30-8:30 p.m.), and Counting Crows (9-10:30 p.m.) on the Ideal Nutrition Stage; and Sko Gudino (7-7:30 p.m.), seeyousoon (8-9 p.m.), and Polo G (9:30-10:30 p.m.) on the LaBovick Law Group Stage.
On April 30, see Levi Hummon (2-2:45 p.m.), Brett Young (3:15-4:30 p.m.), Public Sounds (6:15-6:45 p.m.), Rogue Theory (7:15-7:45 p.m.), Selfish Sons (8:15-9 p.m.), and Lil Wayne (9:30-10:45 p.m.) on the Ford Stage; Bre Kennedy (1:45-2:45 p.m.), Melissa Etheridge (3:15-4:30 p.m.), Chris Pierce (6:30-7 p.m.), Justus Bennetts (7:30-8:30 p.m.), and Adam Lambert (9-10:15 p.m.) on the Ideal Nutrition Stage; and De’Wayne (2:15-3 p.m.), Chase Atlantic (3:30-4:45 p.m.), iDiaz (6:40-7:10 p.m.), Elena Rose (7:40-8:15 p.m.), and Justin Quiles (8:45-10 p.m.) on the LaBovick Law Group Stage.
On May 1, see Ric Wilson (1:30-2:15 p.m.), Nelly (2:45-4 p.m.), Crush Company (5:30-6 p.m.), BabyJake (6:30-7:15 p.m.), and AJR (7:45-8:55 p.m.) on the Ford Stage; Spencer Sutherland (1:45-2:45 p.m.), Lany (3:15-4:30 p.m.), Matt Brown (5:30-6 p.m.), Alex Mali (6:30-7 p.m.), and Boyz II Men (7:30-8:45 p.m.) on the Ideal Nutrition Stage; and Artikal Sound System (1:15-2:15 p.m.), Soja (2:45-4:15 p.m.), Topless in Tokyo (5:15-5:45 p.m.), Mihali (6:15-7 p.m.), and Black Pumas (7:30-8:45 p.m.) on the LaBovick Law Group Stage.
Where: Along the Intracoastal Waterway on Flagler Drive in downtown West Palm Beach, from Lakeview Avenue north to Banyan Boulevard
Tickets: $45-$50 for advance one-day passes; $60 for two-day passes, and $90 for four-day passes. with youth and senior (at the gate only) discounts, plus VIP, up-close (“The Stand”), group, and corporate packages available
Info: 800-SUNFEST (786-3378) or 561-659-5980, www.sunfest.com