North Park Music Fest spreads love to small businesses with new format

When this year’s daylong North Park Music Fest kicks off on Saturday, it will look and feel a lot different than previous incarnations of the event.

That’s because this year, for the first time, most of the performances will take place not on outdoor stages, but inside various local venues.

For this year’s festival, more than 40 live acts are slated to perform at 10 different venues throughout North Park. It’s a format that’s meant to help boost neighborhood businesses, according to Jim Sakrison, one of the festival’s organizers.

“The feedback that we received from business owners in the area was that (in previous years) they didn’t really see much of a spike in traffic from the festival,” Sakrison, a member of the board of directors for the North Park Main Street business improvement district, explained.

“As a small business owner, especially a newer business trying to get traction, it’s
challenging to get noticed, so we are hoping that this walkabout format brings more awareness to the many great shops, bars, restaurants and galleries that North Park has to offer.”

Another reason for the format change, he added, was that the city of San Diego told the event’s organizers back in November that it was not issuing permits for the North Park Mini Park, which had been the hub of the music festival the past three years.

Sakrison said the organizers also want to “create a different type of experience, where fans could see some bigger names in small intimate venues.”

This year’s lineup includes:

• John Doe, a founding member of the legendary punk rock band X, performing at the Garden at Art Produce community and performance space
• Greyboy & The Midnight Sound Affair at the Seven Grand whiskey lounge
• The Schizophonics at Queen Bee’s banquet hall.

Other acts slated to perform at the festival include local favorites The Neighborhood Kids, El Funeral and Skate Jazz. The other venues include The Office Bar, the U-31 bar, Bivouac restaurant and St. Lukes Episcopal Church, which will showcase all-ages, family friendly music.

In addition, dog-grooming business Pure Pawsh will host three bands for free, with no tickets required for entry.

And for those who still prefer their music in an open air setting, one outdoor stage is planned for the festival, in the parking lot of Pretzels and Pints restaurant, at the corner of Ray Street and North Park Way. It’ll be part of the festival’s Creator Fair, sponsored by Verbatim Books and Visual Gallery.

“There are so many acts I am excited to see,” Sakrison said. “The lineup is really diverse ranging from classical guitars and harp at St. Luke’s to post-hardcore and everything in between. I’m definitely fired up to see John Doe at the Garden of Art Produce, that will be special.

“The Schizophonics will blow the roof off of Queen Bee’s. El Funeral and
Bachata Surf at the Office are going to be really fun. And I think St. Luke’s as a venue will be really unique, so I’m very much looking forward to that.”

Sakrison added that in event’s new format isn’t set in stone, and that future events could see additional tinkering.

“We hope to continue to grow this hybrid model where we will program venues with special acts a few days leading up to the festival,” he said, “but also bring back a couple of large outdoor stages.”

North Park Music Fest, 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Saturday; multiple venues in North Park; single tickets $25, available online.