The long-running, two-day Levitate Festival gathers local food vendors, visual artists, and incredible musical acts, all mixed together to create laid-back coastal vibe. This combination has been a staple of summers in Massachusetts for over a decade.
On July 18th and 19th, the vibes proved to be immaculate at this year's festival in Marshfield, even when the weather wasn't cooperating.
DAY ONE: Female Uprising
One of the reasons why Levitate is so successful is how the concert is organized. Unlike other festivals, you don't have to choose which acts to see. The sets are organized in a way where there is no overlap between the acts. Moving between stages is seamless and allows for everybody to not miss a single note of music throughout the day. This year's main stage featured an all-female Stoke lineup and other great artists on the Style and Soul stages.
Local legend Copilot performed early in the day as the first act on the Soul stage. Formed in 2018, the band quickly moved up the ranks in Boston's music scene, which led them to become one of the three winners to receive a $5,000 grant from Levitate's 2026 Songwriters Showcase for their next studio album.
With their high-energy performance, Copilot made it clear that some rainy weather wasn't going to ruin anybody's day. And what was more impressive was seeing vocalist Maggie Hall onstage, pregnant and belting out the band's retro-inspired rock and soul tunes just one day before her due date. Unintentional or not, it was clear that the power of women would be the theme of this day at Levitate.
After Copilot lit the day’s fuse, my focus then turned to the first act of the all-female Stoke lineup: local singer-songwriter Bebe Stockwell. From the very first note, it was easy to see why Stockwell is seen as such a promising talent. The deeply personal storytelling aspects to her performance made the enormous stage feel intimate. With the crowd still filtering in for a long festival day, you could watch as people were moving closer and closer, drawn in by her warm and inviting vocal styling. It was the perfect start to Levitate's main stage.
Off to the Style stage, acts like Jammy Buffet, The Movement, and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong kept the crowd energized throughout the day with the blend rock, reggae, and funk in their sets. The second stage's setlist closed with Ziggy Marley, who in his own right has carried the torch and has moved reggae music forward for over four decades. Like the previous acts, Marley didn't lack any enthusiasm, and there was an energy in his music that was completely in harmony with what Levitate has been about for all these years: community, positive energy, and loving life, all of which emanated effortlessly from him.
Levitate's Stoke stage also featured Larkin Poe in the middle of the day. The Nashville band, led by sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, brought with them a bit of Southern rock that proved to be a welcome palate cleanser. It was a great midday shot of musical espresso to a crowd that might have begun waning at this point. The duo wowed the crowd with their raw vocals and precise guitar playing for just over an hour. Themes of family, motherhood, home, and the power of women were rampant throughout the set. The effortless edge to the sisters' musical stylings was definitely one of the standouts that day.
While Larkin Poe injected energy into the main stage, Sammy Rae & The Friends made sure to keep it there. The Brooklyn-based group came out swinging from their first note. Their set could be best described not as any type of specific music genre, but more as a celebration of music as a whole. There were jazz, rock, funk, soul, and Latin elements in their set. At one point, vocalist Sammy Rae vocalized that she didn't really have a plan for what came next in the song, yet still did everything in perfect time and harmony. It was that type of on-the-spot spontaneity that made Sammy Rae & The Friends' set stand out to me. The band clearly had fun being on stage in the rain.
Sammy Rae & Friends won my award for best cover song of the day, as they did an incredible funk version of Genesis' "That’s All" that had the older crowd roaring. Honorable mention goes to the aforementioned Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, who did a remarkable reggae-funk version of Elton John's "Rocketman."
Although heavy rain coming down the entire hour before the final set, the clouds literally parted for headliner Alanis Morissette. Before she took the main stage, a video played, describing the Canadian singer as a "force of nature." As good as all the other acts were leading up to her set, it was clear that Morisette was that very thing. Just from the first note of the opening song, "Hand In My Pocket," I could tell something special was happening.
Throughout her set, there were times she spun around, arms flailing until she wound up offstage. At other times, she ran and leaped to all corners of the stage, only to come back to the crowd at the perfect time to deliver lyrics as only she could. From the way she moves onstage and the way she clasps her hands together while singing, you get the sense that while most singers fight to produce their sound, she tries to control something from getting out, as if she holds the reins on something so massive that it gets the better of her sometimes.
The rest of Morisette's set was bookended with favorites like "Right Through You" and "Ironic," while the middle of it comprised of more contemporary and lesser-known tunes. She ended her set with "Uninvited" and "Thank U," which had the audience leaving the Marshfield Fairgrounds knowing that they had seen something incredible.
DAY TWO: The Ultimate Backyard Party
The soggy weather that lingered over much of Saturday gave way to sunshine on Sunday, and Levitate very much responded. Bigger crowds sped to the gates early, blankets and chairs spread farther across the makeshift grass, and there was a palpable party feel around the Marshfield Fairgrounds. Sunday's lineup mirrored that shift, beginning with quieter moments then steadily building toward brass-fueled funk, hometown heroes, indie rock, reggae grooves, and campfire singalongs that carried into the night.
On the Style stage, Surfer Girl wasted little time getting people moving. The band brought an infectious energy to one of the weekend's most reliable stages, encouraging the audience to "let their guard down" not just for their set, but for the rest of the afternoon. It was a fitting message. By that point, the weekend had settled into its groove.
Vermont singer-songwriter Hans Williams was the perfect choice to ease in Levitate's Stoke lineup on the main stage. His understated folk stylings never ask for more attention than they need with the emotionally honest songwriting and sway-inducing arrangements. Williams' falsetto drifted effortlessly over the band's nuanced playing, while a pedal steel guitar (played incredibly with a violin bow) created long, gliding notes that gave the set a dreamlike quality. It was a gentle way to welcome the day.
As the sun climbed higher, so did the energy. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue transformed the main stage into a New Orleans street party, blending rock, funk, jazz, and Latin influences into one relentless performance. While the morning initially leaned on subtlety, Trombone Shorty came out throwing lethal musical power shots. Every member of the band found opportunities to shine, and the crowd responded by dancing along with the band for nearly the entire set.
Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country offered a different genre of intensity on the Style stage. The Nashville guitarist continues to stretch the definition of country music, mixing honky-tonk traditions with improvisation more commonly found in jam bands. The songs gave the crowd room to breathe without ever wandering too far, a testament to just how locked-in the band was throughout their performance.
Away from the larger crowds, Levitate's smallest stage continued to reward those willing to wander. The Soul stage remained one of the festival's quieter corners, giving emerging artists like Casey Rivers and Laney Powers room to connect with listeners in a setting where every lyric mattered. And New Bedford's own Morrissey Blvd. steadily built one of the strongest sets on the festival's smallest stage, drawing an audience that quickly overflowed the immediate area as their performance grew in intensity.
By mid-afternoon, Levitate had become exactly what its organizers envision: equal parts music festival, art showcase, and community gathering. Pepper leaped into that atmosphere immediately. This was (shockingly) their time playing at Levitate, and they played one of the most playful and kinetic sets this weekend.
Pepper worked the crowd from start to finish, earning loud singalongs while frontman Kaleo Wassman paused to thank the audience "for the honor and privilege of playing music for you today." Beach balls bounced endlessly across the audience during their performance of "Boys From The Big Island," which blended elements of reggae, punk, and rock. As I walked between stages afterward, conversations about Pepper's set seemed impossible to avoid. The talk circled around how much fun it was to see them perform.
Although Pepper certainly welcomed everyone to the party and had the crowd primed, The Elovaters reminded everyone whose backyard they were standing in. These hometown heroes returned to Levitate for their sixth time this year and drew one of the largest crowds this weekend. Their set balanced polish grooves with enough improvisation to keep the songs fresh. The crowd happily sang along while the band toasted everyone with a promise to "wake up the neighbors."
The Elovaters' performance was both a homecoming for Marshfield natives and welcoming party for first-time festival-goers. For those familiar with Levitate's history, seeing them on the main stage was a wonderful sight (not too long ago, they opened for acts like The Movement and Pepper). Their set was great, and it felt like something the Levitate crowd could, in a way, take credit for creating.
Australian duo Royel Otis brought a different kind of vibe as the Style stage's final act. They are an up-and-coming act in the indie scene, and they did everything they could to earn that distinction. On a day filled mostly with reggae and funk grooves, Royel Otis' hazy guitars and dream-pop textures recalled bands like Phoenix, The Strokes, Oasis, and The Cure without sounding derivative. The audience was locked in from the opening notes with their near-shoegaze sensibilities to segue into the evening's headliner.
Caamp closed the main stage by seemingly turning the fairgrounds into one giant front porch. As one of the leaders in the resurgence of acoustic music, the Ohio band's blend of Americana and indie folk has steadily carried them from campfire singalongs to sold-out arenas. Yet, little about their performance felt larger than life. Instead, it felt remarkably personal. Caamp shifted seamlessly between delicate ballads and more rock-driven songs before frontman Taylor Meier looked over the crowd and smiled, saying, "One look at y'all and I see my friends." Earlier, he jokingly suggested anyone who didn’t like banjo music could use the next song as a bathroom break, drawing one of the night’s biggest laughs. It was the kind of easygoing moment that fit the weekend perfectly.
The best festivals develop a personality over the course of a weekend. On Saturday, Levitate kicked off the weekend with a powerful all-female Stoke lineup as well as the Style and Soul. On Sunday, every set seemed to add another layer to the good vibes. By the time the lights came up, it no longer felt like thousands of strangers attending the same event. It felt like a community that had spent two days growing into itself.
