This past weekend saw the Great South Bay Music Festival’s 11th year in Patchogue’s Shorefront Park —and the festival has continued to gain momentum, according to its organizer, Jim Faith.
“We have been steadily climbing,” Faith said. “We just kept spending a little bit more on the artists and production.”
Still, he says, “We’re probably the most affordable festival out there.”
(function(w,d,e,o,u,s,t){w[o]||(w[o]={},s=d.createElement(e),s.src=u,s.async=1,
t=d.getElementsByTagName(e)[0],t.parentNode.insertBefore(s,t))})(window,document,
“script”,”oiopub”,”https://patchogue.greaterlongisland.com/wp-content/plugins/oiopub-direct/zones.js”);
For four days, festival-goers got to enjoy a wide variety of acts, from Taking Back Sunday to Eddie Money, all while a portion of the proceeds helped fund cancer research.
($1 of each purchased ticket goes to the Stony Brook University Cancer Center Fund.)
“This was the most people I’ve ever seen [at the festival], if you add all the days together,” said David Kennedy, the executive director of the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce who spent four straight days at the festival.
The event got off to a rainy start Thursday, but that didn’t deter hordes of fans from turning out.
“Thursday was still one of the most popular days, along with Saturday, which had 2,000 walk-ups,” said Faith.
All together through the entire fest, there were about 20,000 attendees, which was roughly 2,000 more than last year.
This year’s event also featured a first-time performance from Disney’s Imagination Movers.
“We try to have a children’s event every Sunday morning,” said Faith. “The [Imagination Movers] were great to work with and everyone seemed to enjoy them.”
According to Faith, about 500 people came to the early morning children’s concert.
“We would definitely have them back next year,” he said.
Top: The sun sets on the fourth day of the 2017 Great South Bay Music Festival, as seen from the second-story of a Smith Street house.
Credit: Benny Migliorino/Benny Migs Photo
Looking Back: Our favorite photos from the Great South Bay Music Festival 2017
