Harvey Milk Festival announces this year's music lineup

The Harvey Milk Festival returns for its sixth iteration this year from May 14 through 16. Started to honor the legacy of Harvey Milk, one of America’s first openly gay politicians, through the inspiration of music, film and art that celebrated diversity and inclusion, the Harvey Milk Festival will take over Five Points Park in downtown Sarasota.

Divided into three days of film (May 14), art (May 15) and live music (May 16), the free and relatively new arts festival is growing each year. And though admission is free, the non-profit festival encourages donations to go toward the event’s main philanthropic goal: ALSO Out Youth. Founded in 1992, ALSO (Advocacy, Leadership, Support and Outreach) Out Youth strives to end any and all forms of prejudice, violence and discrimination based on anyone’s perceived or actual sexual orientation. The group also advocates for the awareness of sexual minority issues.

The festival begins on May 14 with a screening of the film “Tiger Orange" at Burns Court Cinema. Directed by Wade Gasque, the movie tells the story of two feuding gay brothers who must return and confront each other in their California hometown after their father dies. The screening will be hosted by local humorist and public relations and booking manager for the Harvey Milk Festival Anthony Paull with a performance by local comedian Blake MacIntyre to warm up the crowd.

On May 15, the HuB will host the festival’s visual arts portion of the three-day arts celebration.

Bands from around the country and the world are slated to appear at the final day of the free festival on Saturday May 16. The multi-band day of music in Five Points Park will start at 2:30 p.m. and end at midnight.

The bands scheduled to appear include:

Beach Day (Hollywood, FL)

Chasing Jonah (Orlando, FL)

Jami Gee (Sarasota, FL)

RedFeather (Saint Petersburg, FL)

Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest of Glass (Chattanooga, TN)

Lost Lander (Portland, OR)

Yip Deceiver (Athens, GA)

MeteorEYES (Sarasota, FL)

Kodak to Graph (Pensacola, FL)

Bright Light Bright Light (London)

“We wanted to find danceable acts and we were looking for gay-friendly acts,” says Paull. “I definitely think that’s what draws people in especially if you’re not familiar with the music. So, the more dance the better. It’s going to be more folk-like in the beginning and rise into a dance party at the end of the night.”