The Scoop: STATTfest 2019
Written by: Cait Elizabeth - August 2019
Edited by: Travis Ryan
STATTfest 2019.
In a world that seems increasingly divided and self-centered, Long Island is about to gain a brand new festival dedicated to harmony and synergy. STATTfest is taking over Farmingdale on September 7th for its big debut, and everyone involved is no less than pissing with excitement. Gear up for a gathering of old and new friends, an absolutely killer musical lineup, and a day packed with fresh as hell activities. Headliners include big names such as The Floozies, Goldfish, The Expendables, and Badfish - A Tribute to Sublime. From sporting games provided by LI-Kick, to complimentary haircuts by The Holy Black Trading Co, and yoga classes led by Calm Seekers & Ener-Chi Yoga, STATTfest has something to offer everyone at a ticket price that won’t insult your wallet or your parents!
Origin Story.
A group of friends and creators dreamed up the idea of running their very own music festival close to home on Long Island. Steven DeAngelis, Ryan Costello, Matt Ferrara, and Mike Foschino (of Live Mic Music) were no strangers to the magic of collaboration, having started the artist collective Moverz in February of 2017. Moverz is a support group for the chronically creative, a place to bounce ideas off of other out-of-the-box thinkers and find help for future projects. Realizing that a festival would be a perfect opportunity to showcase this potential, Ryan reached out to Good Looks Collective, a Brooklyn-based event planner. With the addition of Daniel McAree (of The After Hours Review) and Karina Alvarez, the core had come together.
Finding the ideal location was tricky, says Steven, but working with their production company Viper Studios was the key to sorting out the logistics. They’ll be providing two stages for the festival, the main just slightly smaller than Great South Bay Festival’s leading stage. You can expect to find most of your favorite locals—like The Big Happy, Nonstop To Cairo, Aqua Cherry, and Samurai Pizza Cats—on the side stage, while Oogee Wawa steps up to support the big boys.
The team didn’t have to brainstorm too hard about who they wanted to play this festival: “We knew exactly what bands we wanted from the very beginning. It was just a waiting game for us. Some of the bigger bands took a little bit longer to lock in, but we were lucky and kept our heads up and everything worked out like we wanted.”
While the physical puzzle pieces took some time to assemble, the philosophical ones were in the forefront of everyone’s minds from the get-go. This project is all about working together and benefiting the community, and a huge component of that is the charity work that’s rolled into the STATTfest culture. A portion of every ticket sale will be donated to The Only Love Foundation, which is dedicated to aiding communities in underdeveloped countries. Each purchase will help build schools and aid in self sustainable agricultural education, providing systems and resources for communities to thrive. A local festival good for mind, body, and soul? Good for local and distant communities? Where you can contribute to society while being a degenerate? That’s what we’re talkin’ about.
Gag Reel.
The seamless marketing campaign that has been attached to STATTfest since day one is probably my favorite aspect of this project. It makes it look like a frat party grew up and became a music festival, and Ryan didn’t throw up OR break his leg.
A series of whimsical videos, mass pineapple giveaways, and opportunities to win prizes and discounts has been consistently popping up in our social media feeds for months now. They all show off the streak of lovable goofiness the founders have while forecasting good times to come on September 7th. Buffoon, a comedy group attached to Moverz, will be providing comedy sets throughout the day, and video games will be furnished by Space Zambonie. STATTfest is set to magnify your best weekends out with friends to magnificent proportions, supplying the sights and the sounds, the noms and the imbibe-ables. These MF’rs are ready to go, so put on those party pants, take them off, stand by an open window, and prepare to rage; STATTfest is almost upon us.
