[rev_slider InBloom2018]

Photos: Elliott Soeder

Oh, thank God; they moved it!

Of course, I’m referring to Free Press Summer Fest, or FPSF, more recently. The almost decade-old locally-held music festival underwent a major rebranding this year to In Bloom, as well as a change to the month in which it was was held.

FPSF was a June event was almost always the victim of one or two acts of Mother Nature – blood-boiling heat, or torrential downpours. Sometimes even both.

The powers that be decided enough was enough and decided to move the festival to late March and change the name to “In Bloom”, giving a light, breezy feel and acknowledging Springtime – brief part of Houston’s year which is not only tolerable, but quiet nice, weather-wise.

The festival is still held at Eleanor Tinsely Park, right off the edge of downtown Houston, and was home for the weekend to over fifty acts, including Queens of the Stone Age, Beck, Incubus, Broken Social Scene and Grizzly Bear, to name only a handful.

The In Bloom rebranding brought with it a new aesthetic and new atmosphere, both of which were an improvement from FPSF, though the new image was certainly not necessary – but an improvement, nonetheless.

Should you have attended the festival and should you maybe fall anywhere in your 30’s or above, you likely noticed the presence of one unmissable element – YOUTH.

Without using the term condescendingly, the millennial generation by far outweighed any other age group. This is surely common at a typical festival anywhere in the country, but the ever-present little whipper-snappers were out in full force, likely soaking in and loving the freedom that a festival such as In Bloom provides. As I’ve said in years past, you can be anyone you want to be and behave (almost) however you choose. From hair, to makeup, to attire, nothing is out of bounds.

Being In Bloom’s inaugural year, and judging by the success and turnout, I would suspect the annual event isn’t going anywhere, and can only grow from here.

Until next March…