16 years.... It's hard to believe, but the Carlsbad Music Festival returns to the Village of Carlsbad for its 16th year on Friday, Aug. 2, and it runs through Sunday, Aug. 4.
This year's lineup includes local Americana troubadors Trouble in the Wind, indie hip-hop experimentalists Parker Meridien, jazz pianist Joshua White, post-punk minimalist jazz collective the Montalban Quintet and surf rockers the Red Fox Tails.
In addition to that cream of the crop local lineup, festival founder and curator Matt McBane will bring his Brooklyn-based chamber post-rock group Build back to his seaside hometown.
Other performers include leading American composer Andrew Norman, LA-based cumbia group Very Be Careful, harpist and Kurt Vile/Thurston Moore collaborator Mary Lattimore, San Francisco-based avant-garde pianist Sarah Cahill and many more.
Billed as a three-day summer celebration of "adventurous music by the beach," the festival takes over St. Michael's Campus (2775 Carlsbad Blvd.) with more than 40 performances on indoor and outdoor stages, a beer garden, food trucks and an artisan market.
Tentative show times are Friday from 5-11 p.m., Saturday from 1:30-11 p.m. and Sunday from 1:30-8 p.m. Most of these concerts are free and open to the public (with a suggested $5-10 donation), but usually the indoor church performances require ticket purchases.
There's also a VIP package, however, which includes VIP lounge access, reserved seating at indoor venues, free food and drinks, artist meet-and-greets and indoor restrooms (instead of portable toilets). VIP pre-sales are available now for around $230 and $200, with and without parking, respectively.
Rutger Ansley Rosenborg is an editor and digital marketer at NBC's SoundDiego. Find out more here.
