“You are more than resistors, you are dreamers, radical dreamers. I need you to do that radical work, and it begins with a radical dream. Are you bold enough to dream that every child deserves a future? From Memphis, from Nashville to Boston to Chicago to Orlando– to Haiti, to Gaza, to the Sudan, to the Congo, you’re here because you give a damn. Because you believe another world is possible.”
“We’re gonna do something a little different today. I’m gonna be spinning some cumbias. You already know what it is, man. Drink your water and fuck ICE.”
Those words from, respectively, Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Chicano-American musician Cuco were just two of countless defining moments from Saturday’s MadSoul Music Festival, Rep. Maxwell Frost’s annual music and advocacy event. The program blended music and progressive politics, featuring artists, organizers, elected officials and candidates local and afar, all with a shared vision and call to action towards a brighter future for us all.
MadSoul began a decade ago as a labor of love between two friends, Frost and Niyah Lowell, a partnership that continues today. “The first one had sixty-five people at it, and in good DIY show fashion, half of them were the performers,” says Frost. Frost has been booking shows since he was a 14-year-old in Kissimmee, and booked the entire roster for this year’s event himself.
This line-up, featuring Magdalena Bay, Aly & AJ, Cuco, alongside local and Florida-based artists like The Pheromones, Jay Safari, Raspberry Pie, Mirror Parts and Renaissance Theatre Company, drew nearly 4,500 attendees. In addition to DIY-booking, a core tradition of MadSoul is fundraising towards local causes. Partial proceeds for this year’s event benefit three local nonprofits working tirelessly to defend the rights of our immigrant neighbors, and everyone’s right to due process: Florida Immigrant Coalition, Hope CommUnity Center, and Orlando Center for Justice.
But donating was just the start. Festival programming centered on the shared responsibility democracy demands. “The fact of the matter is a lot of times in politics, especially in the United States, we politicians spend a lot of time trying to convince people of our power, rather than convince them of their own power,” says Frost, “and that’s really the whole purpose of this event. …. We just want people to find a political home.”
To that end, over 30 grassroots organizations set up their tents across the Fairgrounds. Central Florida’s local abortion fund, Florida Access Network, was among them, “Floridians deserve to live in a state where abortion access is protected, and community care is prioritized,” says Laura Hernández, FAN’s Board President.
MadSoul also featured a second stage dedicated solely to political conversations, covering topics such as Fighting the Climate Crisis at Home, Voting Rights in the South, and Healthcare Over Billionaires. International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 631 played a role in programming and production of the festival. Paul Cox, the union’s business representative, says, “MadSoul isn’t just a festival, it’s a force. It celebrates the power of music and the power of people taking action.”
MadSoul certainly stands apart as an event that leverages the power of art towards building political power. Attendees like Ashley Weaver left inspired to continue fighting for a better world, “even though it might feel like we’re losing the battle, we’re not losing the war.”
The elected officials and candidates present were committed to a new generation of leadership. “They say there’s very little you can do as a Democrat because we’re the minority. First of all, I don’t take the ‘minority’ language. I’m the opposition party,” said Illinois Congresswoman Delia Ramirez. “And we are going to oppose every single day, and all things that Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott and all those fascists are doing.”
Before headliners Magdalena Bay took the stage to thousands of fans, Pressley offered closing remarks: “You’re here because you give a damn. Because you believe another world is possible. One where we choose love over hate, one where we choose hope over fear, one where we choose people over profit, one where we choose peace over war, one where we choose freedom over fascism. Another world is possible. Let’s build it, people.”
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