In Episode 31 of the Music Festivals Podcast, I recap and review the Whippersnap Music and Arts Festival that took place from February 19th - 22nd 2025 at the Florida Sand Music Ranch.
This early Spring music festival was a banger! It's one of the events that opens the U.S outdoor music festival season each year, with the mid-state Florida weather ranging from 40 degree nights to 70's during the day. We lucked out that the rain stopped after Wednesday night and festival neighbors were grateful for 3 days of light overcast and sunshine, complete with stunning sunsets over the campground lake each night.
With headliners Steeln' Peaches opening the Wednesday early bird party, followed by Thursday night's looping set from Keller Williams, a full-on dance party on Friday evening with the The Polyrhythmics and two outstanding sets from the The New Mastersounds to close out the event Saturday night, this festival kicked off the season with an undeniably COSMIC bang.
Crowded campfire jams happened each night after the main stage lights dimmed. But the rest of the lights stayed bright around the camp. Whippersnap prides itself on some truly incredible light design and production displays that illuminated the entire Florida Sands grounds with glowing inflatable mushrooms, Avatar-style jungle plants, full on laser light shows, incredible digital projections painting the trees, and a full spectrum of colors to uplight the campground canopy of Live Oaks. It all made you feel like you landed on planet jam band!
Photo Credit: Brother Nick
In the episode (it's a bit longer than usual...), you'll also hear interviews from Daniel Heitz, slide guitar player for Steeln' Peaches, as wells as and Sierra Oriana McRae of Healing Arts Sanctuary on not only their respective careers in the live music industry, but also their take on the history of the unique Florida music festival scene and popular venues. Push play to watch or listen to this week's show!
Neighbors have until midnight on February 28th, 2025 to enter our drawing to win 2 FREE 2-Day GA Passes with Early Entry Car Camping valued at $286 per pass! Our thanks goes out to the festival producers at The Caverns for making this opportunity available to our subscribes to The Neighboorhood weekly email newsletter.
Don't miss your chance to experience incredible performances on the outdoor Amphitheater stage and the underground cave stage that makes The Caverns one of a best festival venues in the U.S.A.
CaveJam 2025 will be held at The Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee, over Memorial Day weekend from May 24th–25th, with headliners including The String Cheese Incident, The Infamous Stringdusters, Andy Frasco & The U.N., Armchair Boogie and many more regional and local artists.
The winner will be randomly selected and announced on Saturday, March 1st, 2025 and their names will be added to the CaveJam 2025 guest list at the gate. You have until midnight on Friday, February 28th, 2025 to submit your entries.
To enter to win, simply click the button below and complete the form by following some social media profiles and dropping in your basic information — Good luck, Neighbors! 😎
Next week on the Music Festivals Podcast, I sit down with Alex "Gator" Petropulos, drummer for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, to talk about his journey with the band, their evolving sound, and what’s ahead in 2025.
Alex joined Pigeons in 2015, stepping in as drummer and helping shape the band’s high-energy, improvisational style that has made them a favorite in the jam scene.
In this episode, we dig into their latest album, Day In Time, their relationship with their dedicated fanbase “The Flock,” and the experience of hosting their own festival, Domefest, now set at New River Gorge in West Virginia.
Alex also shares insights on their current tour, which includes stops at Jam Cruise 21, All Good Now, and a headlining spot at Sunshine Get Down at Florida Sand Music Ranch.
We also talk about the impact of live recordings, their take on Nugs.net and how that has impacted band marketing, and what it’s like to play in some of the most iconic jam venues and festivals in the country. If you’re a fan of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, the jam scene, or just love hearing about life on the road, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.Tune in for the full interview dropping next Friday!
Win 2025 Festival Passes for You and a NeighborIf you found this website for the first time on a Google Search, I’d love to have you join The Neighborhood. That's our official email newsletter
Neighborhood subscribes get exclusive content that's not published on the website or channels as well as chances to enter drawings for ticket giveaways to festivals all over the U.S. Subscribers also get access to discount codes and deals from our growing list of supporting partners.
Make sure to visit the homepage and sign up to Join the Neighborhood with your email address. You'll get no more than one email each week as we roll into the spring and summer festival seasons. See you on the inside. 👋
At the very classy WinterWonderGrass Mountain top dinner last night in Steamboat Springs, I had the privilege of seeing Torrin Daniels, banjo player and vocalist for Kitchen Dwellers play a super fun and intimate set with Kyle Tuttle and Lindsay Lou.
According Lindsay during the show, baby Bart was also participating with occasional kicks and jumps. Bookending that set was two high energy sets from The Po' Ramblin' Boys who had the crowd out of their seats and dancing once the meal was complete.
This dinner included multiple courses of amazing farm to table food that included Bison, gourmet Brussels Sprouts and all kinds of other local Colorado delicacies. I'm guessing about 200 WinterWonderGrass neighbors boarded the gondola up to the Rendezvous Lodge for this private event, enjoying absolutely stunning sunset views of Steamboat Springs on the way up. The whole thing was such a unique and enjoyable festival experience.
It got me thinking about my conversation with Eddie Roberts a few weeks back on how some festival promoters have moved towards offering smaller and more intimate experiences as part of their festival mix that get the community of artists all that much closer to the fans. I get the impression that the bands also like the experience.
Kitchen Dwellers - RiverWonderGrass 2022 Documentary
Video Credit: @KitchenDwellers
Neighbor N8 : Mar 14, 2025 9:59:24 PM
In episode 33— the official start of Season 3 of Music Festivals Podcast—I recap my recent trip to WinterWonderGrass 2025 in Steamboat Springs,...
Neighbor N8 : Feb 21, 2025 10:13:35 AM
In Episode 30 of the Music Festivals Podcast, I sit down with Ben Bloom of the The Polyrhythmics, a Seattle-based powerhouse instrumental group that...
Neighbor N8 : Mar 7, 2025 7:16:32 AM
In episode 32— the final Music Festivals Podcast episode of Season 2— I talk with Alex "Gator" Petropoulos, Drummer for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong.
Neighbor N8