With an assortment of tropical destination festivals popping up around the world, Winter is still Festival Season!  Panic en la Playa, Los Muertos con Queso, Phish Riviera Maya, Envision and Jam Cruise are all giving fans a chance to combine the music they love with a much needed winter vacation.

Kicking off the Winter warm-water festival season is our beloved Strings and Sol in Puerto Morelos, Mexico.  Team Festy GoNuts will be attending our 3rd Strings and Sol, and we couldn’t be more excited!

So, without further ado, here is our Strings and Sol Preview for 2016:

Strings and Sol Preview 2016: What we are most excited about!

Festy Family

The Strings and Sol family is incredible, and we are so blessed to be a part of it!  This being our 3rd Strings and Sol, we are so very excited to be re-united with old friends we haven’t seen in a year, as well as many more friends we have just made this year and discovered we are all Strings and Sol veterans, and somehow didn’t meet in the past!  Of course, there are also all of the new friends we are sure to have by the end of the festival, adding to this wonderful growing clan!

Late Night Sets – Sockeye, Larry Keel and Friends, Bartronica

The hottest new spin-off act on the festival circuit is Sockeye – comprised of Leftover Salmon’s Greg Garrison, Alwyn Robinson and Erik Deutsch.  This three-piece (and the inevitable guests who join them) will keep the late night dance party pumping in the palapa!  Blending funk, jazz, soul and improv, Sockeye will definitely take the party to a new level!

We’ll also be treated to late nights with Larry Keel and Friends (he has a LOT of friends!), Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass and Bartronica – a Danny Barnes project that we can’t wait to see!

Poolside Rodeo with Vince Herman

We don’t know exactly what this will entail, and we don’t care!  Give Vince Herman a mic and an audience, and we’ll be there!

Artists at Large: Danny Barnes and Nicki Bluhm 

We imagine that these two artists will be sitting in on just about everyone’s sets, and we’re looking forward to many magical moments from them!  We are sure to see plenty of Nicki Bluhm with the Infamous Stringdusters, and Danny Barnes’ banjo is sure to add to all of the pickin’ parties throughout the festy!

The Keels

Who doesn’t love Larry and Jenny Keel?!  What a wonderful pair these two are, and we can’t wait to see both their smiling faces on the beach.  We also hear that they can pick a few tunes as well! 

Poolside Sets

This year’s schedule includes poolside sets by Greensky Bluegrass and Yonder Mountain String Band.  There is nothing better than floating in the pool with a few hundred friends while listening to your favorite bands picking in the gazebo!  (We are definitely NOT sleeping through these this year!)

Shenanigans

We’ve seen belly flops and monkey weddings and everything in between.  Trust us- when you mix hundreds of wonderful people, beautiful weather, endless tequila and incredible energy, hilarity will ensue!

Dancing in the ocean, surrounded by wonderful people, listening to your favorite bands without a care in the world! 

That pretty much sums it up!  See you en la playa!