{"id":76176,"date":"2025-12-08T22:56:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T22:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/76176\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T22:56:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T22:56:27","slug":"photos-madsoul-blended-music-arts-and-advocacy-in-orlando","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/76176\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: MadSoul blended music, arts and advocacy in Orlando"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou are more than resistors, you are dreamers, radical dreamers. I need you to do that radical work, and it begins with a radical dream. Are you bold enough to dream that every child deserves a future? From Memphis, from Nashville to Boston to Chicago to Orlando\u2013 to Haiti, to Gaza, to the Sudan, to the Congo, you\u2019re here because you give a damn. Because you believe another world is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna do something a little different today. I\u2019m gonna be spinning some cumbias. You already know what it is, man. Drink your water and fuck ICE.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those words from, respectively, Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Chicano-American musician Cuco were just two of countless defining moments from Saturday\u2019s MadSoul Music Festival, Rep. Maxwell Frost\u2019s annual music and advocacy event. The program blended music and progressive politics, featuring artists, organizers, elected officials and candidates local and afar, all with a shared vision and call to action towards a brighter future for us all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MadSoul began a decade ago as a labor of love between two friends, Frost and Niyah Lowell, a partnership that continues today. \u201cThe first one had sixty-five people at it, and in good DIY show fashion, half of them were the performers,\u201d says Frost. Frost has been booking shows since he was a 14-year-old in Kissimmee, and booked the entire roster for this year\u2019s event himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This line-up, featuring Magdalena Bay, Aly & AJ, Cuco, alongside local and Florida-based artists like The Pheromones, Jay Safari, Raspberry Pie, Mirror Parts and Renaissance Theatre Company, drew nearly 4,500 attendees. In addition to DIY-booking, a core tradition of MadSoul is fundraising towards local causes. Partial proceeds for this year\u2019s event benefit three local nonprofits working tirelessly to defend the rights of our immigrant neighbors, and everyone\u2019s right to due process: Florida Immigrant Coalition, Hope CommUnity Center, and Orlando Center for Justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But donating was just the start. Festival programming centered on the shared responsibility democracy demands. \u201cThe fact of the matter is a lot of times in politics, especially in the United States, we politicians spend a lot of time trying to convince people of our power, rather than convince them of their own power,\u201d says Frost, \u201cand that\u2019s really the whole purpose of this event. \u2026. We just want people to find a political home.\u201d <\/p>\n

To that end, over 30 grassroots organizations set up their tents across the Fairgrounds. Central Florida\u2019s local abortion fund, Florida Access Network, was among them, \u201cFloridians deserve to live in a state where abortion access is protected, and community care is prioritized,\u201d says Laura Hern\u00e1ndez, FAN\u2019s Board President.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MadSoul also featured a second stage dedicated solely to political conversations, covering topics such as\u00a0Fighting the Climate Crisis at Home,\u00a0Voting Rights in the South, and\u00a0Healthcare Over Billionaires.\u00a0International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 631 played a role in programming and production of the festival. Paul Cox, the union\u2019s business representative, says,\u00a0\u201cMadSoul isn\u2019t just a festival, it\u2019s a force. It celebrates the power of music and the power of people taking action.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

MadSoul certainly stands apart as an event that leverages the power of art towards building political power. Attendees like Ashley Weaver left inspired to continue fighting for a better world, \u201ceven though it might feel like we\u2019re losing the battle, we\u2019re not losing the war.\u201d <\/p>\n

The elected officials and candidates present were committed to a new generation of leadership. \u201cThey say there\u2019s very little you can do as a Democrat because we\u2019re the minority. First of all, I don\u2019t take the \u2018minority\u2019 language. I\u2019m the opposition party,\u201d said Illinois Congresswoman Delia Ramirez. \u201cAnd we are going to oppose every single day, and all things that Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott and all those fascists are doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before headliners\u00a0Magdalena Bay took the stage to thousands of fans, Pressley offered closing remarks: \u201cYou\u2019re here because you give a damn. Because you believe another world is possible. One where we choose love over hate, one where we choose hope over fear, one where we choose people over profit, one where we choose peace over war, one where we choose freedom over fascism. Another world is possible. Let\u2019s build it, people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

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\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

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\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

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\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Jim Leatherman<\/p>\n

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