Meriden Daffodil Festival’s lineup features 30 of CT’s top music acts

Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant
·4 min read

The Meriden Daffodil Festival resembles a lot of other community outdoor springtime festivals in Connecticut, but there are several big distinctions. One is the hundreds of thousands of daffodils that bloom all around Meriden’s Hubbard Park at this time of year. Another is the sheer size of the park, which allows for carnival rides on one side, a “Theater of the Trees” area with children’s activities, a gigantic food tent and an artisan craft fair with dozens of booths situated near the park’s small lake.

For those in the Connecticut music scene, the Daffodil Festival is known as one of the largest showcases of local bands in the state. The festival is legendary for booking the internationally renowned band The MGMT, which formed at Wesleyan University, for its first off-campus gig and hosting an impromptu reunion of Miracle Legion (during a set by its frontman Mark Mulcahy) when that band had been broken up for years. While cover bands, tribute bands and party bands are welcome, original local pop and rock bands are always in the mix.

This year’s festival takes place May 4 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and May 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shuttle buses bring festival goers to Hubbard Park from Meriden Mall and Lincoln Middle School. There is no parking at the park.

Traditionally, the festival has happened on the last weekend of April. This year, it is happening on the first weekend of May.

Thirty different bands are on the 2024 Meriden Daffodil Festival schedule. The acts are spread out over three stages. The Welcome Stage is at the entrance to the festival. The Food Tent Stage is inside the large covered food tent where dozens of food vendors are serving everything from strawberry shortcake to burgers and hot dogs. The Bandshell Stage is in a permanent structure near the carnival rides and games.

Saturday’s music schedule includes:

  • Fuster Cluck, featuring singer/guitarist Chris Morolda, 11 a.m., Welcome Stage.

  • Goza, Latin music, 11:30 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

  • Seth Adam, an accomplished local singer/songwriter, noon, Bandshell Stage.

  • A tribute to Tom “Rooney” Roberts, the late leader of local bands The Gonkus Brothers and County Line, 12:45 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

  • The Mighty Soul Drivers, an R&B/blues powerhouse, 1 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

  • Brian Larney Band, Bridgeport singer/songwriter, 1 p.m., Welcome Stage.

  • HannaH’s Field, the popular eclectic psychedelic folk/pop ensemble, 1:30 p.m., Bandshell Stage.

  • Shellye Valauskas Experience, featuring power pop guitarist Dean Falcone, 2:30 p.m., Welcome Stage.

  • Jeff Burnham, whose latest album is “State of Mind,” 2:30 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

  • Soul Sound Revue, a Motown tribute, 3 p.m., Bandshell Stage.

  • Professors of Sweet Sweet Music, the Hartford area jam band that holds its own HartBeat festival, 4 p.m., Welcome Stage.

  • Austin James and the Nomads, a bluesy original rock band from Hartford. 4 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

  • Eddie Seville, Connecticut’s premiere country blues artist, 5 p.m., Bandshell Stage.

  • Rich Badowski Blues Band, from New Britain, 5:30 p.m., Welcome Stage.

  • The Bernadettes, New Haven’s exemplary R&B/party band, 5:30 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

  • Joby Rogers’ tribute to Michael Jackson, 7 p.m., Bandshell Stage.

  • Jason Ingriselli and the Miles North, “New England country music,” 7 p.m., Welcome Stage

  • Julai and the Serotones, rock/pop, 7 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

Sunday’s schedule includes:

  • A Pallet for the Shoal, an intriguing experimental folk unit, 11 a.m., Welcome Stage.

  • Cassandra and the Knighthawks, classic rock and country rock covers, 11:30 a.m., Bandshell Stage.

  • The Blue Rhythm Band, blues and classic rock with some originals, 11:30 a.m., Food Tent Stage.

  • Downtown 6, dance/party band, 12:30 p.m., Welcome Stage.

  • Orquestra Afinke, Latin music, 1 p.m., Bandshell Stage.

  • Silver Steel Band, a steel drum ensemble, 1 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

  • The Sparkle and Fade, original pop/rock, 2 p.m., Welcome Stage.

  • Wastin Bullets, country rock, 2:30 p.m., Bandshell Stage.

  • Kala Farnham, the current Connecticut state troubadour, 2:30 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

  • Inner Groove, rock and country covers, 3:30 p.m., Welcome Stage.

  • Small Town Gamblers, a rock cover band from Plantsville, 4 p.m., Bandshell Stage.

  • Number 9, a Beatles tribute, 4 p.m., Food Tent Stage.

Other key events at the Daffodil Festival are a parade on Saturday at 11:30 a.m., where the newly crowned “Little Miss Daffodil 2024” will be among those marching and a drum circle on Saturday at 3 p.m. near the park’s tennis courts.

For more information and a complete schedule of Meriden Daffodil Festival events, go to daffodilfest.com.