Royal Palm Beach Commons Park, shown during a 4th of July celebration, is hosting West Fest 2023 from Feb. 17 to 19.
Photo by the Village of Royal Palm Beach.
West Fest, one of Royal Palm Beach’s most popular events through the 2010s, returns Feb. 17 to 19 after a hiatus because of COVID-19. Admission is free.
“This is my third year here, but the first time West Fest will be held since I started,” says Sylvio Pierre-Louis, Royal Palm Beach’s events and facilities manager. “We’re bringing it back because it’s one of the most popular events for the western communities.”
The weekend’s music includes tribute acts to country stars Luke Bryan, Toby Keith, the Zac Brown Band and Jason Aldean, plus original-and-cover country and rock favorites the Andrew Morris Band and Southern rock tribute act Southern Blood.
Sponsored by the Village of Royal Palm Beach.
Southern Blood closed Royal Palm Beach’s Fall Concert Nights in mid-December. So lead singer Jimi Robinette, guitarist/vocalists Thiago and Greg Smolla, bassist Alan Vine, and drummer Rodrigo Valente will step onto familiar terrain when they take the main stage at Commons Park to open West Fest’s musical slate at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17.
“We’ve all been in bands down here forever as full-time musicians,” Robinette says. “We’re a Southern rock band that plays mostly material from the late ’60s and the ’70s.”
After Southern Blood’s set of cover songs, mostly by artists from Florida (Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38 Special, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot) and Georgia (Allman Brothers Band, Black Crowes, Blackberry Smoke), it’s an 8:30 p.m. set by Play It Again. The Florida-based Luke Bryan tribute act is named for one of the country artist’s hit songs.
Feb. 18 is the family-friendly West Fest’s primary day, with carnival rides, a bounce house, arts and crafts, ax throwing, train rides, pony rides, and hay rides throughout the afternoon and evening.
A chili cook-off starts at 2 p.m., with a wheelbarrow race at 3, a sack race at 4 and a Toby Keith tribute act on the main stage at 6:30. Headliner Homegrown, a Zac Brown Band tribute act, closes the night starting at 8:30.
Sponsored by the Village of Royal Palm Beach.
Chili chefs can register to compete with their recipes by calling 561-401-3643 or emailing the Parkside Cafe in Royal Palm Beach at parksidecafe21@yahoo.com.
“We currently have more than 10 people competing for the cash gift card prizes in the chili cook-off,” Pierre-Louis said in early January. “It’s a popular contest.”
Feb. 19, the action continues on the carnival rides and in the bounce house, as well as on the main stage with music by the Andrew Morris Band at 2:30 p.m. and Wide Open, the Jason Aldean tribute act, at 4:30.
Though he’s only in his early 30s, the Jacksonville-born, Port St. Lucie-based Morris’ band is in its 13th year.
Lead vocalist/guitarist Morris is capable of calling out original songs from the group’s 2018 debut CD, “A Long Time Comin’,” pop covers including The Eagles, Tom Petty and the Marshall Tucker Band, and country hits ranging from Chris Stapleton and the Zac Brown Band to Johnny Cash and Travis Tritt, all aided by his act’s singing instrumentalists.
“I have Steve Siciliano on lead guitar,” Morris says. “Michael Cheney is on bass and has been with the band since 2011. And Rui Pinto, who moved over from Europe in 2005, is on drums.”
West Fest runs from 5 to 10 p.m. Feb. 17, noon to 9 p.m. Feb. 18 and noon to 6 p.m. Feb. 19 at Royal Palm Beach Commons Park, 11600 Poinciana Blvd. For further information, call 561-753-1232, or visit royalpalmbeach.com.
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