The Coolest Music Festival in Jacksonville

Winterland, a locally founded and independently run music festival, is planning their fourth event kicking off Feb. 26, 2022 at the Riverfront Plaza downtown. Since 2017, Winterland has been responsible for bringing big names into town, like The Shivas, Worn-Tin, Lady Lamb and Surfer Blood, and throwing them in the mix with popular local acts including Sailor Goon, The Dewars, Bebe Deluxe, Mr. Al Pete … the list goes on. This year they’re adding to the repertoire of headliners with neo-psychedelic California band La Luz, Slothrust, Reggie Watts and Caroline Rose’s Party Lord Set.

According to the press release:

“Our COVID gap year allowed us to regroup, a silver lining that kept our brains percolating for two years, ultimately brewing the plan for this outdoor arrangement,” festival founder Glenn Michael Van Dyke said in a press release from the festival. “After a long two years of facing our collective mortality, we want to celebrate life and art together,” she said of the themes that Winterland will explore with its 2022 festival.

Touching on the current state of affairs, including climate anxiety and broad social and political unrest (what the festival runners are referring to as “living in a world of digital and natural decay,”) Winterland IV has put an emphasis on sustainability and community, partnering with local organizations like youth-centered surf nonprofit the Jax Board Riders Club and local artists on experiential installations made from recycled materials.

“Winterland is here to last and that means together finding ways towards a more sustainable future,” Van Dyke said. “In every lane we can, we are choosing to be sustainable, and we are starting within our community.”

This ideology isn’t new for Van Dyke, as they and other members of the post-world-self-help band/cult, Kairos Creature Club, hosted a tech-trash drop-off and sustainable market at their recent residency at The Echo in Los Angeles. And the most recent tape produced by the Winterland Records? Yes, it was made from recycled plastic and recycled card stock, in a 100% carbon neutral facility. The innovative mixture of music and sustainability will be a gasp of fresh air in the littered scene of downtown Jacksonville.

Winterland IV is free this year, partnering with Red Bull and certified B-corp brewery New Belgium, to bring sustainability in music to light. “Even though this year’s festival is free, we still need support,” Van Dyke said. “The festival is run by artists for artists and music lovers of all kinds. We want to continue to build a creative ecosystem where musicians can network and inspire each other.”

Artist support packages, which will include exclusive festival merchandise, secrets, discounts and eco-friendly goodies, go on sale Dec. 3.

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