This weekend, the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival is back yet again to transform Sunshine Grove into a hotbed of cultural excursions and explorations. Returning for the first time in back-to-back years since 2017-18, the 2023 OMF experience is sure to reignite the same passions that its four previous iterations have brought to life, with a lineup that features some of the biggest names in music across a wide range of genres.
As Boca’s own John Thomason wrote in his Week Ahead column earlier this week, “Eclecticism is baked into the cake of this beloved music festival, which enjoys its sixth iteration this weekend in the otherwise quiet Okeechobee County, a just-under two-hour drive from Boca. Boasting its best lineup in years, the Okeechobee Music Festival features A-list acts from genres as diverse as EDM (Odesza), self-described “future-funk” (Griz), O.G. funk (Earth, Wind & Fire), hip-hop (Baby Keem, Big Boi), hardcore punk (Turnstile), and progressive jam (Goose). Performances run well into the early-morning hours each day, and like Woodstock and our late, great, Langerado Festival, camping is part of the fun. The festival’s positive vibe extends beyond its seven cutting-edge performance stages, and into its non-music-related attractions: the immersive art installations and light shows; the swimming pond at “Aquachobee Beach;” and the yoga classes, wellness workshops, guest speakers and vendor market that constitute Chobeewobee Village.”
How to Prepare:
With that said, here are some quick tips for first-time attendees who don’t know the ropes of making it through a camping festival in one piece. And for anyone who’s grown rusty since their last visit to a full-blown camping festival, they may very well serve as a refresher course.
- Do not forget your water bottle. Of all the necessities that a camping festival requires, this one is undoubtedly the most crucial. Don’t be caught without it.
- Prepare your wardrobe for any and all weather possibilities. Don’t make the same boneheaded mistake that this writer made in one of the festival’s first years—it may very well get cold at night. Just because we’re in Florida doesn’t mean you’ll be comfortably warm for the entirety of the long weekend. Temperatures in Sunshine Grove have been known to dip into the 50’s in the wee hours of the morning, and the ground underneath a tent can be cold and unforgiving.
- Arrive together. Being stuck with a long hike from your campsite to the stages is bad enough, don’t get caught miles away from your friends. Campsites are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, so you won’t be able to hold a spot for your buddies who are running a few hours late.
- Plan your schedule in advance. It’s not as easy as you may think to get from stage to stage, and none of us can be in two places at once.
- Pace yourself. Four days of music that stretch late into the night are taxing even on the most energetic attendees. Be careful not to party too hard on Thursday night, or you may just ruin the rest of your weekend.
Sets we’re most excited for:
A completely and totally subjective preview featuring the sets that we’re most looking forward to at Okeechobee 2023. As with past iterations of the event, the festival’s greatest strength is that its lineup can appeal to fans of many different genres in equal measure; these just happen to be the acts that piqued our interest.
Thursday
Thursday’s bill remains, as in past years, a warm-up slate of mostly electronic acts, a genre that is an admitted blind spot for us here at Boca.
- Excision. This Canadian producer, active since 2006, has been a staple on the festival circuit for years, and is the only top-billed (read: headliner font-size) act slated for the festival’s first day.
- Soul Clap. Jungle 51 is one of Okechobee’s most beloved and longstanding fixtures, and this funk-imbued duo will be taking over the stage for an extremely late-night set for all those who are able to stay awake long enough.
Friday
- Goose. One of the biggest draws of the festival, Goose has taken the jam-band scene by storm over the past few years with its inventive indie-rock covers and co-signs from some of the genre’s elder statesmen, including Phish frontman Trey Anastasio. The group’s two-hour late-night set will constitute its first show in South(ish) Florida in more than five years, and first since its ascent to jam-band royalty.
- Lil Yachty. The 25-year-old Georgia rapper will be performing his first full set since the release of his recent album Let’s Start Here, which marked a hard departure from his earlier trap style into neo-psychedelia that often borders on being straightforward indie rock.
- Hippo Campus. The Minnesota indie-rock quartet returns to Sunshine Grove for the first time since 2018, still supporting last year’s LP3 and with its unique spin on pop-rock in tow.
- Indigo De Souza. This Asheville singer-songwriter has remained relatively under the radar despite rapturous critical reception for her excellent 2021 album Any Shape You Take, and is gearing up to release its follow-up late next month.
Saturday
- PoWow! Featuring Free Nationals & Friends. Okeechobee’s own version of the beloved Bonnaroo “SuperJam,” this year’s unpredictable mashup performance will feature the Anderson .Paak backing band Free Nationals alongside Outkast legend Big Boi, members of Goose, and more.
- Local Natives. Now elder statesmen of the indie rock scene, the beloved L.A. band will play the main stage at Okeechobee for the first time following an electric, but much smaller, appearance at the festival back in 2018.
- Earth, Wind & Fire. The legendary group will fill the “legacy” slot on this year’s lineup, bringing decades’ worth of hits, credibility and good vibes to the main stage on Friday evening.
- Jordana. Perhaps the smallest-font act I’m excited for at this year’s festival, Jordana is a sleeper bet to be the best indie-pop moment of the weekend as she arrives with years of exceptionally charming songs under her belt and a number of great recent releases to promote.
Sunday
- Turnstile. This one is exciting. As an admitted Turnstile obsessive, I have made trips to the west coast of Florida and the west coast of the United States over the last year to see this act bring its singular brand of bouncy, electric, accessible hardcore punk to life on the stage. Though the act might seem out of place on a lineup more concerned with electronic and mellower indie acts, don’t doubt the Baltimore quintet’s ability to unite a crowd with undeniably dancy hard-rock and a little TLC.
- Baby Keem. Now firmly out from under the shadow of his cousin Kendrick Lamar, the ascendant California rapper is making (what is believed to be) his first headlining appearance at a major U.S. festival.
- JPEGMafia. Known to his die-hard fans as “Peggy,” this experimental hip-hop virtuoso has been on tour with Turnstile over the past few months, and brings with him an ability to incite mosh pits that rivals even that of his recent tourmates. Between his signature glitched-out production and bars that blend humor with punk sensibilities, his set is sure to be one of the weekend’s highlights.
Local Bands to Watch
- Artikal Sound System
- Mustard Service
Boca magazine will be on site at Okeechobee 2023 to share the best and worst of South Florida’s signature camping music festival experience. Keep an eye on our Instagram account for live coverage, and check back here next week for a post-festival review.
Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival. March 2-5, Sunshine Grove, 12517 N.E. 91st Ave., Okeechobee. www.okeechobeefest.com
