Photos + Review by David Molnar – The second and final day of the 2026 Levitate Music & Arts Festival brought picture-perfect summer weather to the Marshfield Fairgrounds after rain showers dampened opening day. Warm temperatures, a slight breeze and brilliant blue skies greeted thousands of festival goers as they returned for another full day of music, art and community. While the sunshine was a welcome change, many attendees escaped the midday heat beneath the festival’s colorful decorative canopies that dotted the grounds. Long lines formed throughout the afternoon at favorite food vendors including Cheese Louise, Matilda’s Heart-Shaped Empanadas, the Chicken and Rice Guys and of course, the Sausage Guys. Musically, the day featured an impressive lineup with performances by Surfer Girl, Hans Williams, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Pepper, The Elovaters, Royel Otis and Ohio folk favorites Caamp closing out the two-day music festival.
Early in the afternoon, indie-folk singer Hans Williams immediately connected with the crowd as he stepped on stage, smiling before calling out, “How you doing… you chillin’!” Moments later he eased into his song “Georgia Rush.” Later at the Style Stage, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country delivered one of the festival’s standout sets. Donato’s blazing guitar work effortlessly blended country, bluegrass and rock music, with his furious picking earning repeated cheers from the audience.
The afternoon reached another level when Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue exploded onto the Stoke Stage, Levitate’s main stage. “We bring the funk all the way from New Orleans!” Trombone Shorty shouted before launching into a high-energy set packed with brass-fueled grooves. Later he challenged the crowd once again, screaming, “I told you we’re comin’ to a party! I wanna see everybody movin’ out there in Massachusetts!” One of the biggest highlights came during the song “Where It At?” from the band’s 2017 album Parking Lot Symphony, as hundreds of bubbles floated across the packed fairgrounds while fans danced beneath the afternoon sun. Later the performance included Trombone Shorty demonstrating his trademark circular breathing technique, sustaining an astonishingly long trumpet note for what seemed like minutes while Orleans Avenue played funk behind him, amazing the packed fairgrounds.
The early evening belonged to hometown heroes The Elovaters before Ohio folk band Caamp brought the festival to a memorable close. Earlier in the day, the reggae-rock band Pepper surprised fans on the Style Stage by inviting Elovaters’ frontman Jackson Wetherbee to join them for a song, drawing one of the loudest ovations of the afternoon. When The Elovaters later took the Stoke Stage, colorful beach balls and large inflatable great white sharks bounced across the sea of fans as Wetherbee proudly declared, “We are The Elovaters and we are from right here! Every year this festival gets better and better!” The Elovaters formed in Marshfield, Massachusetts in 2014. The band once again proved why they have become a Levitate tradition. As darkness settled over the fairgrounds, headliners Caamp transformed the main stage into a garden adorned with dozens of fresh flowers. Bathed in dim red and orange lighting while giant video screens sometimes projected the performance in striking black and white, the Ohio folk band closed the festival with renditions of “Peach Fuzz,” “By and By,” and their breakthrough song “Vagabond” from their self-titled 2016 debut album, providing a fitting finale to another unforgettable Levitate Music & Arts Festival.
