The Stone Soup Music Festival & Street Fair, a community tradition that has thrived for more than 30 years in Grover Beach, returns the weekend of August 24 and 25.
The free event, produced by the Clark Center for the Performing Arts, brings together a great stew of 14 musical artists performing continuously on two stages, and more than 50 crafts and food vendors.
Admission is free and no tickets are needed for the two-day event taking place at Ramona Garden Park in Grover Beach on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Vendors from across the Central Coast showcase local crafts and world treasures, as well as a wide variety of food, beer, wine, and beverages.
Saturday’s events include a youth dance showcase, Big Sirs of Swing performing gypsy jazz, Strange Cake serving up slices of funk and classic rock, Rosewood & Honey singing in tight three-part harmonies, and Vintage Renegades performing rock, pop, country and blues. Argentinian Alejandro Brittes and his trio bring Chamamé and other music of Latin America, MoFunk provides Motown funk and soul, the 18-piece group Samba Loca gets people dancing, and at 7:30 pm the festival’s traditional dance party gets underway with the ‘80s New Wave dance music of The Spazmatics.
Sunday begins with the popular “Mardi Paws Dog Parade” and moves along to Hālau Hula Nā Mele O Ke Kai performing Hawaiian dance and music. Dusty Shoes Gospel Bluegrass Band playing bluegrass, rockabilly country, folk and Americana; Los Pinguos providing a mash-up of Latin rhythms, reggae, rumba, flamenco, and rock; Tony Buck and his Cadillac Angels performing Americana, roots rock, and blues; and Garden Party mixing it up with folk rock hits of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Reggae master Das Ranny wraps things up with his Reggae All-Stars Group.
The festival’s name traces back to a folk tale about a stranger’s arrival in a starving village. The stranger promises to cook enough soup to feed the entire population. As the stranger cooks and tastes the soup, he asks each villager to contribute an ingredient for flavor. The result is a tasty, nourishing soup that feeds everyone. It’s a story about everyone pulling together and combining diverse strengths to accomplish something great for the community.
The founders of the Stone Soup Music Festival created the event with this story in mind. For three decades, each summer the community has come together to provide a gathering space for a wide variety of local and guest musicians, artists, and food and merchandise vendors to celebrate cultural and ethnic diversities.