Island Hopper Songwriter Fest: Annual music festival to feature free live performances
Now in its ninth year and spanning over 10 days, the Island Hopper Songwriter Fest will kick off on Captiva with an abundance of performances at six different venues.
The festival began because September is the “neediest” month in Southwest Florida and the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau wanted to drive the economy by putting heads in beds, as that is how it is funded.
Lee County VCB event lead Nancy MacPhee said that in the beginning, the festival was held for two weekends — one on Fort Myers Beach and the other on Captiva. In order to bring room nights and overnight stays to the area, they bridged the two weekends with midweek performances in downtown Fort Myers. This year, Cape Coral venues have been added.
With the islands still recovering from Hurricane Ian, she said they are encouraging attendees to arrive on Captiva by boat or carpooling or scheduling an Uber. This year, songwriters performing on the island will get around by Uber.
“Captiva is still recovering and there are limited places to park and limited lodging available,” MacPhee said. “This year, the lodging is slim pickings out there.”
She added that the ‘Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa is ready for boats.
“Arrive by boat. The venues are only so big. They are intimate small type of performances,” MacPhee said.
On Captiva, the festival will run from Sept. 22-24 at the South Seas’ performance tent, The Mucky Duck, The Green Flash, ‘Tween Waters, RC Otter’s Island Eats and Keylime Bistro. The Captiva Cruises performance were already sold out as of last week.
“When you hear many of them,” MacPhee said of the songwriters scheduled to sing this year. “Eighty percent of their songs are recognizable and are on the radio. It’s really kind of fun.”
The festival will continue in the Cape on Sept. 25-26 at the Nauti Mermaid Dockside Bar & Grill at The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village, Gather, High Tide Social House and Pinchers. Downtown Fort Myers is the next stop on Sept. 27-28 at City Tavern, the Banyan Hotel Fort Myers, Downtown Social House, Luminary Hotel and Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center.
The final days will be held on Fort Myers Beach from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 at the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina, DiamondHead Beach Resort, Matanzas Inn, Light-house Tiki Bar & Grill, Bayside Park and Mound House.
MacPhee said they work with BMI, the largest organization representing songwriters and rights with songs, which calls for songwriters to participate in the festival.
“Many of them are alum because they come back year after year,” she said, adding that this year there is a very good group of new songwriters.
As for the venues, MacPhee said they only use BMI-licensed venues that are in a walkable footprint with parking and hotels nearby.
“We are luring people in out of the area to spend a couple of days and we want them not to get back into the car,” she said. “It is 10 days. In a songwriter’s festival world, it is probably the longest. It’s a big undertaking. While we would love to touch every community, we think it is a model that other people can replicate. It has worked for us, and we encourage other communities to do the same.”
MacPhee said last year’s estimated attendance was about 13,000 people over the course of the 10 days. Pre-COVID in 2019, the festival attracted 21,000 — the largest crowd since its inception.
“The storm hit two days after Island Hopper,” she said of Ian. “Some new friends kept in touch and checked on us. Our partners at BMI and some of the songwriters themselves organized a benefit for the Lee County hospitality workers.”
MacPhee said the fundraiser helped 400 hospitality workers.
“The reaction and hospitality from our bars, hotels and staff, they love everything about Fort Myers island beaches and neighborhoods,” she said.
For the full schedule for Captiva, visit this article for free at captivasanibel.com. For more information about the festival, visit IslandHopperFest.com.