(October 2015) The 3rd Annual Friday Night Live Music Festival (FNL) took place on four Fridays at The Jacksonville Landing, September 4, 11, 18 and October 2 from 8 p.m. – 1 a.m. This year’s event was sponsored by Jacksonville Fiat. The event, created, coordinated and hosted by two women entrepreneurs, Jasmine Rhey and Madelene Skinner, exhibited Jacksonville’s many talents through music, arts, culture and community engagement. This free event has created a family-friendly atmosphere in Jacksonville’s downtown urban core each year since 2013.
Jasmine Rhey and Madelene of MadFab Media aim to contribute to community revitalization by planning and holding this event in the heart of downtown Jacksonville. Their support for local musicians, artists, businesses and community produced a multicultural event that Jacksonville can look forward to for years to come. View a video of their recent interview during the event here.
“It is truly an honor to serve the community with our passion, and to inspire future generations.”- Jasmine and Madelene
One element of Friday Night Live Music Festival is the music competition highlighting Northeast Florida’s most talented bands, singers and musicians battling it out for $1,000, a limo ride to free studio time and a full song recorded at EnnEcho Studios, plus a feature on First Coast Living. From Jazz to Pop, from Rock to Country, all genres were welcome. Radio sponsors, X102.9 and Power 106.1, were on site each night entertaining attendees with giveaways and games.
A unique part of the music competition is the crowd voting and panel of influential community leaders as guest judges. The grand finale judges were Tony Allegretti, executive director of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, Erica Bennett, anchor and news reporter for Action News and Kevin Waters, head coach of the Jacksonville Giants and owner of H2O Entertainment. FNL 2015 winner, Angelica Christina, is a 13-year-old with an anti-bullying campaign called the Be Yourself Pledge. Previous winners were De Lions of Jah (2013) and Cloud9 Vibes (2014).
Friday Night Live Gives Back, a silent auction, raised money for the JT Townsend Foundation (JTTF). Representatives were present each night sharing information about JTTF. Since 2011, JTTF has helped more than 150 families on the First Coast with over $340,000 in adaptive equipment and financial assistance.
Urban Arts Live represented the cultural and artistic diversity of our local arts community. At the grand finale, M. Will showed off his creativity during the music performances by bringing passion, culture and diversity to FNL with a brilliant Louis Armstrong painting.
FNL had an exciting variety of “street acts,” including Inferno Inc. fire performers, Aura Pole Dance Fitness and various dance groups entertaining a diverse crowd. To close out an amazing festival, the FNL crowd was treated with a spectacular headliner performance from Rob Campman, the Hip Hop artist formerly known as Southstar from Smilez and Southstar, performing his Top 40 hit, “Tell Me”.
Additional details about FNL can be found at fnlmusicfestival.com. Connect on Facebook at facebook.com/fridaynightliveatthelanding, Instagram and Twitter: @fnljax.
madelenesmedia.com 