Baltimore native and country music star Brittney Spencer will be the headliner for the 57th annual Fell’s Point Fun Festival, set for Oct. 6 to 8.
Spencer, 34, is one of 15 performers or groups that will appear during the three-day event. Known for her 2020 cover of The Highwomen’s “Crowded Table” and her 2021 breakout single “Sober & Skinny,” she will appear on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Spencer was nominated for a Country Music Television Music Award last year for “Sober & Skinny,” and last November she signed a recording contract with Electra Records. She is also an advocate for women’s rights, housing for the underserved, and other issues.
The annual festival, one of Baltimore’s largest, is produced by the Preservation Society of Federal Hill and Fell’s Point, and part of the proceeds benefits its preservation-oriented programs and activities.
“This festival is an event by and for community activists,” said Jeff Dewberry, vice president of the Preservation Society. “Brittney Spencer is a trailblazer and an advocate, not to mention an incredible musician who will bring the house down. She is the perfect artist to headline this free festival, where all are welcome.”
On Friday, Oct. 6, performers will include Better Off Dead, a band that celebrates The Grateful Dead’s music; ilyAIMY (i love you And I Miss You); and Shelby Blondell, an indie vocalist and songwriter with roots in the Baltimore area.
In addition to Spencer on Saturday, Oct. 7, performers include the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids; Orquesta Nfuzion, a contemporary Latin American band from Washington, D. C.; and The Cover Up, a 1990s and 2000s cover group. Serving as the warm up act for Spencer will be Old Eastern, a Baltimore “whiskey rock band” that blends southern rock with modern blues and funk.
Sunday, Oct. 8, has been designated the festival’s first Purple Sunday Gameday. DJAllure will perform as the Baltimore Ravens take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, and a large screen will be set up in Broadway Square so festival-goers can watch the game.
Performers on Sunday will include Annapolis’s 8 Ohms Band, whose music blurs the lines between soul, reggae and other genres, and Rufus Roundtree & Da B’more Brass Factory, which will close out the festival with its “Balti Gras” sound.
Since the festival takes place the weekend before Indigenous People’s Day (Oct. 9 this year), organizers have scheduled a performance on Sunday by Mark Tayac and the Piscataway Nation Singers & Dancers, a group that educates audiences about Native American history and culture as part of their performances.
Also performing at the festival will be the Trinidad & Tobago Steel Drum Band; Baltimore All-Stars; and DJ G-Money. Details about their appearances will be announced on social media closer to the event.
The festival began in 1967 as an event to raise funds to fight a transportation project that was designed to link I-83 and I-95 with a highway that would have crossed the Inner Harbor, wiping out large sections of Fell’s Point, Canton and south Baltimore.
The highway never materialized, and the festival has grown into an event that covers six city blocks in Fell’s Point, providing a showcase for the area with art, crafts, food and music. Past festivals have attracted more than 50,000 visitors.
The Preservation Society is a non-profit dedicated to the preservation, renewal, and rediscovery of two neighborhoods involved in the 1960s-era highway battle, Fell’s Point and Federal Hill.
The festival director this year is Kathy Hornig, CEO of Five Star Festivals and former “festival guru ” for the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts. Along with former BOPA CEO Bill Gilmore, Hornig led the planning for Artscape for many years before it went on a three-year hiatus after 2019. It returns this year from Sept. 22 to 24.
Under Hornig’s direction, the Fell’s Point festival is introducing new elements, including a “Foodie Stage” and additional family-friendly programming.
“We invite everyone to come experience Fell’s Point,” she said, “and see why it’s a year-round destination for fun!”
More information about the festival is fellspointfest.com.
