Suwanee Hulaween 2018 : Let's Go Home
Suwannee Hulaween - Photo courtesy of Suwannee Hulaween and Silver Wrapper Productions
For some, home is the place where you keep all your personal belongings and sleep in a bed every night. For others, home is sleeping in a tent lit by a lantern under the Spanish moss nestled in the woods of the Spirit of Suwanee Music Park. Suwannee Hulaween is an annual Music and Arts Festival in Live Oak, Florida hosted by the band The String Cheese Incident. The festival takes places over Halloween weekend every year and hosts a variety of genres from folk to EDM.
The festival held is inaugural year in 2013 with a Voodoo theme and hosted huge names such as STS9 and Big Gigantic. From there, the festival has continued to expand every year and has even grown to the point of adding an extra day and becoming a four day festival. Though the festival itself is only four days, Spirit of Suwanee Music Park does allow for the purchase of extra camping days which allows for people to come in as early as they would like to camp. The hype around this festival has grown so much over the years, the true Hulaween veterans can be seen rolling in as early as a week before the festival’s pre-party begins.
Over the years, Suwannee Hulaween has gained its popularity as one of the top Halloween festivals in the southeastern region by drawing fans in with jaw-dropping line ups. Suwannee Hulaween has hosted a variety of artists since its start such as Shpongle, EOTO, GRiZ, Bassnectar, Papadosio, Pretty Lights, and Primus. The graveyard of past Hulaween line ups hits almost every genre in the book, so it’s absolutely no surprise that this year’s lineup has conquered all expectations fans had for the year. Just to name a few, Suwannee Hulwaneen 2018 is set to host Odesza, Jamiroquai, Tipper, Manic Focus and the MF Band, Lettuce, and Action Bronson. On top of that, attendees are always guaranteed their three solid nights of The String Cheese Incident.
One of the names really drawing the attention of the festival fans across the board is Jamiroquai. Jamiroquai is an acid jazz, funk band from London that made its debut in 1992. The group is fronted by the singer and song-writer Jay Kay and has experimented in several genres like pop-rock and electronica. They rose to fame in the late ‘90s with their iconic album Traveling Without Moving. This album debuted their hit singles Cosmic Girl and Virtual Insanity. The band took an unexpected hiatus around 2011 and left their fans with a song on their sound cloud titled Smile. In early 2017, the band began teasing a comeback with a brand new album titled Automaton and they set the release for March of that year. Then, around the time the Suwanee Hulaween line up was being teased in early 2018, fans spotted a familiar graphic pop up in the corner of a teaser video for the festival. Fans immediately recognized the iconic logo that made a flash appearance as Jamiroquai and began speculating he would be on the lineup for the year as it would be fitting for the bands comeback. With the title track off the new album currently holding over thirteen million views, attendees are at the edge of their seats with anticipation for Jamiroquai’s set.
Another name gaining a lot of social media buzz around their presence on the lineup is Tipper. Tipper is a ambient, trip-hop composer and producer from London. Tipper has hosted his own festival at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in the past known as Tipper and Friends, so he is definitely familiar with the vibe of the venue. His talents for sound design are unparalleled in the genre of electronic dance music and it creates a huge hype around his appearances in the United States. His latest EP Lattice released in 2017 is a mix of trippy, up-tempo beats, which will definitely have the attendees groovin’ at Hulaween.
Dave Tipper
While the undercard boasts a variety of genres all talented in their own unique ways, there’s one artist in particular that is making quick paces to the top in the festival circuit. Manic Focus is a producer and composer from Minnesota who has released five albums over the last six years. He has collaborated with GRiZ, Lettuce, Marvel Years, and many other veterans in the funk and electronic genres. Over time, his sound has evolved to include a full live band that takes his performance and sound to the next level of funk and electronic music. His most recent album Minds Rising, released in 2017, took a full two years to finish and features appearances from some of the sharpest minds in the game such as Adam Deitch of Lettuce, ProbCause and Russ Liquid. The amount of collaboration he puts into his art has the attendees of Hulaween curious if he has any tricks up his sleeves for his live set this year.
On top of a lineup that is overflowing with talent from the funk and EDM side of life, attendees are guaranteed their healthy dose of bluegrass as the festival is hosted by The String Cheese Incident and they play all three nights throughout the weekend. The String Cheese Incident is a funky bluegrass band from Telluride, Colorado that made their debut in 1993. The band hosts the four day festival and always pulls out all the stops for occasion. Between out of this world themed sets and the indescribable stage production, they put on the best performance of the entire festival. Attendees are anxiously awaiting the announcement of the theme of the festival for 2018.
Suwannee Hulaween 2018 has one of the best line ups of the year hands down. Attendees have the opportunity to be exposed to an incomparable diversity of music and art, nestled in the naturally beautiful Spirit of Suwannee Music Park. While the music and art alone are enough to keep people busy the whole weekend, the festival also offers several activities such as Kyle’s Craft Beer Corner and Spirit Lake Activities like yoga and dancing. Suwannee Hulaween is an experience than just can’t be described in words ; it can only be experienced. Don’t miss your opportunity to grab tickets to the best Halloween festival in the South East, we hope to see you at Spirit Lake.
Suwannee Hulaween 2018 Artist Line Up