More Than a Party: Why We're Building This Festival
"Explore the soulful essence of funk music, its power to unite us, and its roots in challenging times. Discover how festivals create a space for genuine connection and celebration. We're building a community where passion thrives."
We asked the people building Down To Funk Festival what it actually means to them — the music, the gathering, the reason any of this is worth doing. Here's what they told us.
On What Funk Actually Is
"What funk music means to me is a way of connecting us — individually and collectively, from our bodies to our spirits to our minds," one of our funksters said. "I think funk means freedom, relatability, and connection."
"Funk music to me is groove music," they continued. "It's music where the instrumentalists are all working together to create a rhythmic feeling, and then the dancers and audience share and reciprocate that feeling. It's dance music, but it's also meant to move your spirit. That genre was born in another very politically contentious time, in the late '60s. It was one of the ways people could continue on and party on, despite incredibly hard socioeconomic situations."
On Why Festivals Matter
"Festivals are important because they're an opportunity for folks to set aside their day-to-day lives and check the drama at the gate — for a few days, just be an organic being. Eat when you want, listen to the music you want, take a nap when you want.
"When the music starts going, no one really cares about anyone's background, or what they do for a living, or how much money they have. We all just get together and have a good time. And with the way the world is going, we need more times like that to connect with each other.
"There has to be a community — an idea that we enjoy making this music, and you enjoy listening to it. The more you enjoy listening, the more we enjoy making it. It's a circuit that gets completed between the band and the audience."
On What We're Building, and How
One of our organizers put it plainly: "What I bring to this project is decades of experience organizing community events, as a community organizer and activist. I was also in banking for over 20 years — I'm bringing some financial activism. I call it financial feminism."
That shows up in the fine print, too: "Everyone will be paid a living wage — all skilled folks at this festival. If we can't ensure that, then we're not going to execute."
"I hope the festival reminds artists that anything is possible — that if there's something you desire to create, create it, and the people will come. To anyone watching this: I hope what you're seeing here reaches you. I hope our passion and excitement for this reaches you. But no matter what, I want to see you here, dancing."
From Nicole
"Hey guys, it's Nicole. Come hang out at DTFF, because we're gonna have a great, great, great time — and you won't want to miss it at all."
The Ask
"My call to action is to share this story. The journey is as valuable as the destination of what we have in mind. The more people are aware of what we're trying to do, and who we are, and why we're doing this, the better off for everyone — because there might be a piece of what we're doing that spins off to support some other effort.
"So please follow our story, and share it with anyone you feel cares about the values, the principles, and the vision we've compiled and are communicating to you."
It's going to be great, and we're pretty excited. We hope you are too.
Dance music that moves your spirit and brings people together. We need this now more than ever.
