The 11th Annual Beardfest at Paradise Lakes in Hammonton, NJ 7/22-24
A serene weekend in Hammonton, NJ for the 2023 Beardfest, with over 25 great acts of music, workshops, food, family, and friends on the beautiful beachfront of Paradise Lakes Campground in Wharton State Forest. We had the chance to spend Friday & Saturday on site taking it all in through the lens, catching the colors, smiles, and the music of course. Beardfest saw few spats of rain and thunderstorms throughout the weekend, and the Beardfest production team pushed on while keeping festival-goers safe, with only one set of music being cancelled due to lightning. Friday, we saw Sean Daniels & The Law-Abiding Citizens start off the afternoon with some bluegrass in the pavilion by the lake while festival goers fueled up on breakfast/lunch, followed by Baltimore's Natalie Brooke & The Infinity Tribe, and then Atlanta's indie-folk rockers, Klark Sound, back on the Beach stage.
We couldn't miss Philly's own dream-pop troupe, Miss Cantaloupe, nor composer and steel pan master, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, or Philly soul/funk keyboardist and Funk n' Bowl veteran, Kayla Childs, with her project, Black Buttafly. On the Beach stage, NJ/Philly progressive rockers and our host, Out of the Beardspace dished out a massive set of music, with Pink Floyd/Talking Heads/Phish fusion tribute, Pink Talking Fish following, treating us to precision mash-ups of the tunes we know and love. The band was also joined by Jimmy Lawrowski from Dogs In a Pile for a funk'd out version of Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) to start their set. Finally, we saw rising star NJ quintet, Dogs In a Pile to close the night out on the Beach Stage.
We couldn't miss Philly's own dream-pop troupe, Miss Cantaloupe, nor composer and steel pan master, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, or Philly soul/funk keyboardist and Funk n' Bowl veteran, Kayla Childs, with her project, Black Buttafly. On the Beach stage, NJ/Philly progressive rockers and our host, Out of the Beardspace dished out a massive set of music, with Pink Floyd/Talking Heads/Phish fusion tribute, Pink Talking Fish following, treating us to precision mash-ups of the tunes we know and love. The band was also joined by Jimmy Lawrowski from Dogs In a Pile for a funk'd out version of Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) to start their set. Finally, we saw rising star NJ quintet, Dogs In a Pile to close the night out on the Beach Stage.
Back on the Beach on Saturday morning, Philly singer-songwriter Carly Brand kicked off the day at noon followed by and an open mic session where handfuls of Beardfest attendees stepped in to deliver their voices and sounds on the Forest Stage. Heading back to the Beach Stage, we saw Kyle Sparkman perform melodic numbers. Next, on the Forest stage, we caught a fun set from Philly funk-rockers, The Jawn, joined by Zach LoPresti of Beardspace, then back to the beach for soulful and healing improvisations from Edenspore. Next, we saw Philly guitarist & songwriter, Flanafi, aka Simon Martinez, take the Forest Stage performing some cool electronic tones. Then we took in a set of smooth groves from the Nazir Ebo Quartet, followed by some rain sprinkles from mother earth. Saturday night headliners, Spafford, took the Beach Stage at 9pm, after an hour rain delay, with a wild set of music. Next up, our hosts, Out of the Beardspace, this time on the Forest Stag, delivered another powerful set, and treated us to a few new tunes, performed Korn's 'Freak on a Leash', and were joined by Philly's Snacktime brass band. Snacktime then took the party into the late-night hours on the Beach Stage, and also celebrated the 27th birthday of saxophonist and the band's frontman, Yesseh Ali. Capping off the night, first an acoustic, in-motion set from West Philadelphia Orchestra, leading us through the lit-up and glowing forest to the Forest Stage to close out Beardfest with Johnny Showcase & The Mystic Ticket for the late-night funk party.
It's the little things at Beardfest that really make this festival stand out, like the seemingly endless list of instructional workshops, movement classes, music lessons, and spirituality circles hosted by Beardfest attendees and volunteers. We stopped by Stef's Free Cereal Bar, where anyone can swing by for a bowl of their favorite cereal, gratis...Me, I prefer the Crunchberry. Beardfest also hosted theme camps this year spread throughout the campground, including Camp Dog Pound, Hammock Heaven, Glow Camp, and Camp Spooky. Vendors and craft artists once again were lined throughout the forest campground path for easy access, where local and regional vendors sold food, goods and wares. New to Beardfest, the festival broadcasted the entire weekend on 102.5FM, tagged as WBFR in the Pine Barrens, giving us updates, festival weather, and upcoming artists, coupled with some great jams from local artists...they even took a request from yours truly! Team RHOMPUS returned again this year providing improvisational creative live art painting on murals during the evening sets of music. The local PA/NJ fire troupe, Tamed Flame Productions, put the cherry on top of the weekend with various performances flanking the stages, spinning and swallowing fire.
As always, Beardfest runs like a well-oiled machine, even in a thunderstorm, because after all...it is well-oiled. Tuned and tailored by the Beardspace band, their friends and family. What started off in Zach LoPresti's backyard has turned in to a full-fledged festival with so many hearts and minds committed to the goal. Production and staff have this thing down, and seemed to enjoy every minute, even while working. In its 11th year, the festival once again provided a stage to unique national, local, and regional up-and coming acts, seeing troves of attendees throughout the weekend, some coming for a short time, with others fully camped out and living there for the weekend. Big thanks to Sam and the Beardspace crew for having us out!
It's the little things at Beardfest that really make this festival stand out, like the seemingly endless list of instructional workshops, movement classes, music lessons, and spirituality circles hosted by Beardfest attendees and volunteers. We stopped by Stef's Free Cereal Bar, where anyone can swing by for a bowl of their favorite cereal, gratis...Me, I prefer the Crunchberry. Beardfest also hosted theme camps this year spread throughout the campground, including Camp Dog Pound, Hammock Heaven, Glow Camp, and Camp Spooky. Vendors and craft artists once again were lined throughout the forest campground path for easy access, where local and regional vendors sold food, goods and wares. New to Beardfest, the festival broadcasted the entire weekend on 102.5FM, tagged as WBFR in the Pine Barrens, giving us updates, festival weather, and upcoming artists, coupled with some great jams from local artists...they even took a request from yours truly! Team RHOMPUS returned again this year providing improvisational creative live art painting on murals during the evening sets of music. The local PA/NJ fire troupe, Tamed Flame Productions, put the cherry on top of the weekend with various performances flanking the stages, spinning and swallowing fire.
As always, Beardfest runs like a well-oiled machine, even in a thunderstorm, because after all...it is well-oiled. Tuned and tailored by the Beardspace band, their friends and family. What started off in Zach LoPresti's backyard has turned in to a full-fledged festival with so many hearts and minds committed to the goal. Production and staff have this thing down, and seemed to enjoy every minute, even while working. In its 11th year, the festival once again provided a stage to unique national, local, and regional up-and coming acts, seeing troves of attendees throughout the weekend, some coming for a short time, with others fully camped out and living there for the weekend. Big thanks to Sam and the Beardspace crew for having us out!
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