South Padre International Music Festival (also known as SPI Music Fest) is an annual 3-day

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

held on

South Padre Island South Padre Island is a barrier island in the U.S. state of Texas. The remote landform is located in Cameron County, Willacy County, and accessible by the Queen Isabella Causeway. South Padre Island was formed when the creation of the Port Mans ...

, Texas. The event features international and national artists, encompassing a wide range of musical genres including country, funk, reggae, rock, indie, Latin rock, ska and jazz. 2007 marked the inaugural year of SPI Music Fest with almost 10,000 visitors throughout the weekend. The festival producer is GamePlan Marketing & Events, a strategic marketing and advertising agency located in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

.
The festival is set in a tropical atmosphere with temperatures averaging high 70s in late October and early November.

History

When The South Padre Convention and Visitors Bureau had a goal to attract visitors during the fall off-season, it held a bidding for a music festival. GamePlan Marketing & Events was selected and began the process of producing a music festival that would help South Padre be a cultural entertainment destination, attracting worldwide

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. Early visions for a music festival included concerts on the sand flats north of the

South Padre Island Convention Centre The South Padre Island Convention Centre is a facility located in downtown South Padre Island, Texas. It can accommodate groups from 20 to 2,500 in size. It hosts the annual South Padre Island Invitational, a college basketball tournament, and is ...

. However, the producer and CVB agreed they wanted to put the concerts near the businesses to better help the

local economy Local purchasing is a preference to buy locally produced goods and services rather than those produced farther away. It is very often abbreviated as a positive goal, "buy local" or "buy locally', that parallels the phrase "think globally, act loc ...

. November 2–4, 2007 marked the inaugural SPI Music Fest. The 2008 date for SPI Music Fest will occur on October 31-November 2.

2008 lineup

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

Foghat Foghat are an English rock band formed in London in 1971. The band is known for the use of electric slide guitar in its music. The band has achieved eight gold records, one platinum and one double platinum record, and despite several line-up c ...

Los Lonely Boys Los Lonely Boys are an American musical group from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll," combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown-eyed soul, country, and Tejano. The band consists of thr ...

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American Rock music, rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla ( ...

* Ghostland Observatory *

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ron ...

Alejandro Escovedo Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, including punk ...

* Del Castillo * Grupo Fantasma *

Fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

Sara Hickman Sara Hickman (born March 1, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, and artist.Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University)Guide to the Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library ...

* Vallejo *

Airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

* meridianwest *

Nakia and his Southern Cousins Nakia Reynoso (born February 20, 1975), known professionally as Nakia, is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor living in Austin, Texas. He is a native of Fort Payne, Alabama. Professional background Nakia moved to Austin in 200 ...

*Pelican West *

The Last Vegas The Last Vegas are an American hard rock band from Chicago whose style draws from glam, punk, and sleaze metal. Composed of Chad Cherry (lead vocals), John Wator (guitar), Adam Arling (guitar), Danny Smash (bass), and Nate Arling (drums), th ...

*Ginger Leigh *Twanguero *Bongodogs *Stewart Mann & the Statesboro Revue *James Speer *Big Burn *Brownout *Phillip Thomas Kellogg *Suzanna Choffel *Eric Hanke *Bree Stevens *More to come�
www.spimusicfest.com
for updated lineup

2007 lineup

More than 60 bands in 14 venues were officially involved in the 2007 South Padre International Music Festival. Musical acts included: * Jaguares *

Robert Earl Keen Robert Earl Keen (born January 11, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and entertainer. Debuting with 1984's ''No Kinda Dancer'', the Houston native has recorded 20 full-length albums for both independent and major record labels. His songs ha ...

Robert Randolph & the Family Band Robert Randolph and the Family Band is an American gospel band led by pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph (Robert Jermaine Randolph, born August 8, 1977, Irvington, New Jersey). NPR has described the band as one with an "irresistible rock 'n' ...

Reckless Kelly ''Reckless Kelly'' is a 1993 Australian comedy film produced, written, directed and starring Yahoo Serious. It co-stars Melora Hardin, Alexei Sayle and Hugo Weaving. The story is a satirical take on a modern-day Ned Kelly, a famous Australian out ...

Plastilina Mosh Plastilina Mosh are a Mexican electronic and alternative rock band formed in 1997. They are part of the musical movement known as Avanzada Regia. Jonás González is the lead singer and guitar player. Alejandro Rosso is more involved with the cre ...

* Grupo Fantasma *

Los Amigos Invisibles Los Amigos Invisibles (Spanish for "The Invisible Friends") is a Venezuelan band which plays a blend of disco, acid jazz and funk mixed with Latin rhythms. In addition to releasing eleven critically acclaimed albums, the band have been lauded ...

Dirty Dozen Brass Band The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorpo ...

Jumbo Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and t ...

Patrice Pike Patrice Pike (born August 4, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Sita KC Patrice grew up in Dallas, Texas, playing ukulele and violin. When she was 15, she began attending the Booker T. Washington High School for the Perfo ...

Mike Doughty Michael Ross Doughty ( ; born June 10, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and author. He founded the band Soul Coughing in 1992, and as of '' The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns'' (2016), has released 18 studio albums, live albums, and ...

* Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue * Suzanna Choffel *Jumbo *Meridian West *Boombox *Big Burn * Kathleen Braun *Hope for the Stars *Gerry's Kids *Pelican West Band *Stewart Mann *Frontera Jazz Quartet *Haydn Vitera *Joy Davis *Eric Hanke *Third Coast *Peoples Army *Bongodogs *Twanguero! *Leslie Blasing *Wesley Cox *On the Roadside Allstars *Honeybrowne *Rabanes *Bombasta *Papa Mali *Jesus War *

Danny Schmidt Danny Schmidt (born October 7, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas, where he now lives with his wife, fellow musician and singer-songwriter Carrie Elkin. Biography Schmidt was born in 1970 and grew up in Austin, Tex ...

*Ideophonic *Brownout * Carrie Elkin *Two Tons of Steel *The Authors *Green Mountain Grass *Amy Atchley *Espina *Billy Harvey *Airline *Homer Hiccolm & the Rocketboys *Eidman Hall *

*Amy Cook *Ruby James *Pilaseca *Miser *Stereo Kitsch *

Slim Richey David Michael Richey (February 11, 1938 – May 31, 2015), known professionally as Slim Richey, was an American jazz guitarist, fiddle player, bandleader, and publisher. Early life Richey was born in Atlanta, Texas, and became a jazz enthusias ...

* Jitterbug Vipers *Leonhardt *The Throwbacks * The Gospel Silverstones *Moving Matter *DJ Gmau * Philip Thomas Kellogg

Weather

The average temperature for South Padre Island during the last week of October and the first week of November is 80' (average high) and 66' (average low).http://weather.msn.com . South Padre Island. Accessed April 2, 2008.

Gallery

Image:South Padre Island Sunset.jpg, South Padre Island Sunset Image:South Padre Island Beach.jpg, South Padre Island Beach Image:Small Music Venue On Beach.jpg, One of the smaller music venue on the beach Image:South Padre Island Beach View.jpg, Beautiful day in November during SPI Music Fest Image:Spicouple2.gif, People posing with SPI Music Fest stickers July 4, 2008

References

{{coord missing, Texas Music festivals in Texas Tourist attractions in Cameron County, Texas