The Indigo Girls, Brandi Carlile, Booker T. Jones and The Travelin’ McCourys are just a few of the more than 100 artists who will present free performances as part of the Sing Out Loud Festival announced by county cultural and tourism officials last week.
To be held Aug. 26 through Sept. 11 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, Colonial Quarter, Downtown Plaza and other venues across St. Augustine, the festival is being billed as the largest free music festival ever held in St. Johns County. To be presented over the course of three weekends, the event is being sponsored by Community First Credit Union in collaboration with the St. Johns Cultural Council and Tourism Development Council.
“The Sing Out Loud Festival is a true St. Augustine celebration of music that spans as much of the musical genre spectrum as possible, showing the world what this community has to offer,” said Ryan Murphy, director of the St. Johns County Cultural Events Division. “We proudly offer this festival at no charge to music fans of all ages and musical tastes…”
All concerts are free and open to the public, including the Sept. 9 Main Showcase at the amphitheatre featuring Brandi Carlile, Indigo Girls, Booker T. Jones and The Travelin’ McCourys. Fans may secure reserved seats, however, by making a $5 donation to OneOrlando via Ticketmaster or by reserving a Sing Out Loud hotel package with one of the dozen partner hotels. Visit www.singoutloudfestival.com for details on securing reserved seats.
The Sing Out Loud Festival is the feature event of the Sounds of Summer Celebration, a variety of arts, culture, music and entertainment events scheduled for August and September in St. Augustine and Ponte Vedra. Sounds of Summer events include the Sing Out Loud Festival, Castillo Centennial celebrations, the Spanish Wine Festival, Lincolnville Festival, film and performing art productions, culinary events and more. A complete listing of Sounds of Summer events is available at www.soundsofsummerevents.com.
“The Sing Out Loud Festival is an all-inclusive celebration of music,” Murphy said. “It encompasses as many musical genres as possible – from the guy with a laptop kicking out crazy electronic music to the five-piece Americana jam session. To offer this celebration of music to the community for free is exceptional….”