Fairhope will host a brand-new music festival this fall as organizers prepare for the inaugural Unity Fest, a one-day celebration of music and community set for Saturday, Oct. 21, on the beachside stage at American Legion Post 199. The event is the latest project from Affinity for All People, a local company known for producing colorful, message-driven T-shirts aimed at spreading positivity throughout the community.
Organizers describe Unity Fest as a “celebration of unity and diversity through the power of music,” and they are backing that message with a direct financial commitment. Ten percent of all festival profits will be donated to Fairhope Sisters Unite, a local group that organizes events and gatherings designed to bring together people of different races, genders, faiths and backgrounds. Festival organizers say the partnership reflects the values at the heart of the event, using live music as a way to bring diverse audiences together on the Eastern Shore.
The lineup for the festival’s first year spans a wide range of genres and hometown favorites. Stereo Dogs will open with a mix of classic rock covers and original material, while Disco Rednecks will bring a high-energy dance-party set with a country twist. The Chad Davidson Band will add a soulful edge to the afternoon, and singer-songwriter Eric Erdman, a regional favorite known for original songs that have earned him fans from Mobile to Muscle Shoals, will perform an acoustic-driven set. Jamell Richardson will bring the blues, and Infant Richard & the Delta Stones will showcase a reworked, updated sound for the festival crowd.
Two headlining acts will close out the night. New Breed Brass Band, a group of young New Orleans musicians co-managed by Grammy-nominated trombonist Trombone Shorty, blends funk, rock, jazz and hip-hop into a horn-driven live show that has built a following well beyond Louisiana. Their set is expected to bring the celebratory energy of a New Orleans second line to the shores of Mobile Bay.
Closing the inaugural Unity Fest will be The Delta Saints, a Nashville-based band whose most recent full-length album, “Monte Vista,” leans into West Coast-influenced sounds layered over the group’s signature blues-rock foundation. The album’s opening track, “California,” sets the tone for a record that blends alternative rock overtones with the band’s roots in Southern blues.
Tickets for Unity Fest are on sale now through Eventbrite. General admission is priced at $40, while festivalgoers looking for an upgraded experience can purchase VIP access for $75. Organizers are encouraging early ticket purchases as the festival’s debut date approaches.
As a first-year event, Unity Fest adds to a growing list of music festivals along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, but organizers say its charitable component and its focus on bringing together a musically and culturally diverse audience set it apart. With a lineup that stretches from New Orleans brass to Nashville blues-rock, and proceeds benefiting a local nonprofit focused on community unity, Affinity for All People hopes the festival becomes an annual fixture in Fairhope.