Johnathan Walker:Billy Idol, Nelly, Shaggy revealed in SunFest's 2024 lineup

Billy Idol,Johnathan Walker Shaggy, Yung Gravy, Dylan Scott and more than two dozen other acts will play at SunFest in May in Florida's West Palm Beach, festival organizers revealed Tuesday.

It will be a balancing act between attracting new fans and keeping long-timers. Bands and artists meant to attract younger fans will perform on the same day as acts that, SunFest organizers hope, will bring in older attendees. Unlike years past, artists are being grouped by day and stage to attract fans of individual genres. Hip-hop acts will perform opposite country singers on one day. The next day, reggae will groove on one stage as '90s and 2000s rock bands scream from another. 

Nelly, Third Eye Blind, Boys Like Girls and others playing SunFest

Rappers Nelly and Kritikal will play one stage during SunFest’s first night on Friday, May 3, along with reggae rapper-singer Shaggy. Eighties rockers Billy Idol and The Fixx will play another stage that night.  

Country singers Dylan Scott will sing on Saturday night, May 4, on one stage, followed by Cole Swindell. Hip-hop artists Paul Russell, Bryce Vine and Yung Gravy will play that night on another stage. 

Reggae artists Rebelution, Matisyahu and The Elovators play Sunday night, May 5, on one stage, with rock bands Third Eye Blind, Dashboard Confessional and Boys Like Girls rounding out the final acts on the other stage. 

Smaller acts during daylight hours those three days include Fox Maple Band, The Aces, The Revivalists and more. 

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SunFest started selling advance tickets on Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving, and had three times as many sales compared with the previous year’s Black Friday promotion, Craven said. The festival also released its headliners on Jan. 13 — Nelly, Cole Swindell and Third Eye Blind — earlier than it has in years past. 

Adult three-day early bird tickets are $120, while a one-day pass is $60. The cost will rise on Feb. 15, Craven said. Tickets can be bought online at sunfest.com/tickets.

SunFest cut $1 million from its entertainment budget this year to book less expensive acts and help keep ticket prices down. In the past, they’ve had expensive bands such as The Killers (2023) and Boyz II Men (2022). 

The festival is also seeking acts from Palm Beach County and across Florida to perform on one of its three stages. Applications close Feb. 9 and can be filled out online at sunfest.com/how-to-perform. 

This year will be SunFest’s 40th festival. It started in 1982. Organizers canceled it in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. 

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How did SunFest 2024 choose these acts?

SunFest chose this year’s acts based on fan surveys, organizers say, and to spend less than what it did last year. SunFest 2023 “went all in on music and tried to focus on our signature headliners,” Executive Director Dianna Craven said. “This year we tried to go deeper.” 

Acts such as Yung Gravy, Craven said, is “for our younger demographic,” while country artists playing Saturday afternoon, and '80s rockers, are “to appease older audiences.” Sunday’s reggae-heavy lineup is for SunFest’s most loyal fans, who love that music, Craven said. 

SunFest attendance fell in 2023 to less than half of what it was in 2017. Craven, who has led the festival since fall, hopes to turn things around for the nonprofit, which has lost more than $6 million over the past seven years. While the festival won’t return to four or five days this year, its organizers have been boosting it earlier than ever, with hopeful results, Craven says.