From the good folks at Carolina Indie Fest:

Carolina Indie Fest returns Friday, September 29th and Saturday, September 30th with ten bands, fistfuls of food trucks, dozens upon dozens of crafty vendors, new beer releases and a surprise or two to tickle your fancy.  Admission is free thanks to the generosity of our sponsors.

For the uninitiated, Carolina Indie Fest is a celebration of independent music with ten bands performing all original music over two days in a festival atmosphere.  The stage is sited in the rear parking lot of Hugger Mugger Brewing (229 Wicker Street) in downtown Sanford and the vendors and food trucks spill into the adjacent public parking lot above the beer garden and (new this year) onto the parking deck attached to the brewery.  Bring a lawn chair and grab the best seat in the house early – the music starts at 5pm on Friday, Sept 29 and 3pm on Saturday, Sept 30. 

Music – Here’s the music lineup – click on the name of the band to be directed to one of the places you can find their music streaming.

Performing Friday, Sept 29th
5pm – Jeremiah McKinley Band
6:15pm – Heat Preacher
7:30pm – Gooseberry Jam
8:45pm – Cliff Wheeler Band

Performing Saturday, Sept 30th
3pm – Oort Patrol
4:15pm – Shirlette Ammons
5:30pm – Farewell Friend
6:45pm – Kara Grainger
8pm – Reese McHenry
9:15pm – Skylar Gudasz

Food – Many of our guests and attendees are wondering about the food options – don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!  Friday night we have Bella Nonna Handcrafted Italian, Smokehouse Bandits, Tacos El Primo, Umami & Bomba$$ Sandwich.  Saturday night our food trucks include Dubz Grub, Alkaline Bites, The Blue Window, Flat Drum & Empanadas RD. 

Sweets – There’s also a bevvy of sweets options including Millie’s Mama Bakes who will have their trailer and all the gourmet cookies, Sandra’s Bakery has an “Indie Fest Meltdown” doughnut baked with Hugger Mugger Brewing‘s Chocolate Factory Meltdown Milk Chocolate Imperial Stout and pretzels for those yearning an an Octoberfest option.  Sunset Slush of the Pines is serving Italian ices both Friday and Saturday.  Hook and Kee Creations, winner of last year’s banana pudding competition at the annual Brews, Blues and BBQ event, will be here Friday as will Pink Flower Bakery.

Beer & More – Every year we have a fest beer release – this Indie Fest’s beer release is a Belgian peach witt (wheat) beer.  We save prior year Indie Fest beers to re-release and this year’s Belgian peach witt will be side-by-side with our September 2022 Vintage Ale called Annika’s & our May 2023 Indie Fest release which was a Blackberry Kolsch named Whoa Blackberry Bramble Lam.  Sanford’s own Family Mobile Veterinary Clinic is the generous Indie Fest sponsor of all three beers.  Of course we have 18 of our own beers produced on site as well as a selection of ciders, wines and craft sodas.

Indie Fest Merch – We have Carolina Indie Fest shirts and really cool long sleeved, light weight hoodies for sale at the back bar in the Hugger Mugger Brewing beer hall.  There may be some additional glassware and stickers available here and there.  Be on the lookout for the first ever appearance of Indie Man!  

Staying Updated – We post info on parking and other “day of” type items on the Carolina Indie Fest website.  The band lineup and news from weeks leading up to the event can all be found there.  We’ll post more timely matters on the Carolina Indie Fest Facebook page.  This looks to be another great festival, go ahead and block out those two days on your calendar and bring a lawn chair to settle in and enjoy some great music.  If you made it this far into our guide you’re a real trooper – peace love and rock n roll!