Get your lawn chairs, sun hats and dancing shoes on, Bruce Hornsby’s Funhouse Fest is returning to Colonial Williamsburg this summer.
The festival will run for three days, from June 23-25, and will be headlined by nine-time Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow, Williamsburg’s Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers, “blues-jazz-roots ensemble” Lake Street Dive, and “genre-bending” singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens, according to a Virginia Arts Festival news release.
The Staves, yMusic, Kenny Garrett and Bruce Hornsby & Sonny Emory Duo will also perform at the festival, which will be on the lawn of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, the release said.
To keep last year’s energy going, the festival has added a second stage for the event, the release said.
Food trucks, craft beer breweries and wineries will also be on site all weekend, according to the release.
“I only want to do the Funhouse Fest every year if we can put together a special, unique and stylistically varied array of artists,” Hornsby said in the release. “This year’s lineup fits that description and builds on last year’s in every way…This year’s group is truly exciting. Can’t wait!”
Three-day or single-day tickets for Funhouse Fest will go on sale March 17 at 10 a.m.
The Funhouse Festival is presented by the Virginia Arts Festival and Bruce Hornsby, a Williamsburg native. Hornsby has collaborated with the Grateful Dead, Spike Lee, Ricky Skaggs, Don Henley, Ornette Coleman, Bob Dylan, Bela Fleck, Bonnie Raitt, Pat Metheny, and Robbie Robertson, the release said.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Bruce again,” Festival Director Robert W. Cross said in the release. “Last year’s Funhouse Fest was an enormous success and this year promises to bring even more people out to see these great artists.”
Crow will headline the festival’s first night, about a month after the release of her newest album “Be Myself.”
The second night will be headlined by a “Deadhead’s dream,” Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers, after sets by The Staves, Lake Street Drive and Kenny Garrett. A number of the day’s artists and surprise guests will give a tribute to Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, the release said.
The third day of the festival will start with Bruce Hornsby and his longtime friend and drummer, Sonny Emory, and The Staves performing with yMusic. Rhiannon Giddens will headline the final day of the festival, telling “stories in song” from her debut album, the release said.
Tickets can be purchased online at FunhouseFest.com, by phone at 757-282-2822, or in person at the Virginia Arts Festival Box Office at 440 Bank St., Norfolk, VA.
Hotel packages are available through Colonial Williamsburg by calling 855-308-1259 or visiting colonialwilliamsburg.com.
Festival Williamsburg and Funhouse Fest are co-presented with the City of Williamsburg and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Support is provided by the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance and funded in part by the Williamsburg Area Arts Commission, the City of Williamsburg, James City County and Virginia Tourism Corporation.
