The Stone Soup Music Festival took place on August 28th and 29th at Ramona Garden park in Grover Beach and by all accounts it was a tremendous success!
Hundreds and hundreds of people enjoyed the entertainment, food, vendors, and kid-friendly activities over the course of the two days. Saturday morning kicked off with community performances by Studio of Performing Arts and Dellos Performing Arts Studios, two local dance groups who were excited to be performing in front of live audiences again! Over the course of the weekend, The Wavebreakers, Ras Danny, Petrella & Mixed Influence, Midlife Crisis, Jazz Jubilee by the Sea All-Stars, Unfinished Business (as Unfinished With the Beatles) Calo, Dusty Shoes, Route 66, and Noach Tangeras Band all performed to crowds of music lovers spread across two lawns and two dance floors. Sweet was the headliner performance Saturday night and they provided a high-energy, amazing performance that created lasting memories for all who enjoyed. Sunday morning began with the annual Mardi Paws dog parade which included about 30 canines participated in this super fun event. Many thanks to Grover Beach Mayor Jeff Lee, Grover Beach City Manager Matt Bronson, and Clark Center’s Board President Ashlea Boyer for volunteering to judge the contestants and deciding who would win the four prizes donated by Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic and CD’s Pet Emporium.
Our Stone Soup planning committee did an incredible job pulling this event together in a very short amount of time. We were given the green light to host the festival on June 20th and literally completed a year’s worth of planning and execution within about 8 weeks! We are beyond grateful to committee members Kim and Kenyon Banks, Peggy Hoobery, Dennis Kemble, and Linda Vleit as well as Clark Center staff members Connie O’Henley, Bronwyn Keith, Cathy Fiorito and Lillyana Huerta, and our partners with South County Chamber of Commerce Jocelyn Brennan and Ligia Zavada. They not only put in many hours of volunteer work planning this event, but spent many hours over the weekend making sure the festival goers had everything they needed to have a great time.
Our generous sponsors were integral to the success of the event, allowing us to continue to produce a top-notch event that is free to the public. We would like to give special thanks to Event Sponsors The Nichols Foundation, The City of Grover Beach, Peter & Carol Keith, and Supervisors Lynn Compton and Dawn Ortiz-Legg; Band Sponsors Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, Coastal Demo, Inc, Envoy Mortgage, KSBY, Griffin Plumbing, and Nan’s Pre-owned Books Store; In-kind sponsors Holiday Inn Express Grover Beach, Burdine Printing, New Times Media Group, Dimes Media, Sky River RV, Pacific Beverage, Grocery Outlet, and Miner’s Ace Hardware. We’d like to extend a huge round of applause to Eleise Moore, new Artistic Director of the Great American Melodrama, as she provided several readings of the Stone Soup story, paying tribute to the original idea behind the creation of this local festival, celebrating togetherness and diversity. Also we’d like to thank local artist Jeff Al-Mashat who created the Art Wall that festival goers (mostly children) were able to paint to contribute to this new mural that will continue to display in Ramona Park. Ty Ortiz and Central Coast Party Factory did an exceptional job providing the bounce house Kids Zone to help entertain the younger members of the crowd. It truly “takes a village” and thank you for contributing to and funding our endeavors!
We are already planning for Stone Soup 2022! To keep up to date, be sure to check in to our Stone Soup page on this website throughout the coming months and if you are interested in volunteering, hosting a vendor or food both, or performing please let us know via StoneSoup@ClarkCenter.org or by calling 805-489-4196.
