Portland's SUNAANA Festival Returns For Second Edition This Weekend

It is happening again: the second edition of Portland, Maine's newest, most exciting discovery event-food, music, beer, art-is just two days away. Sunaana takes place Friday-Saturday March 2-3 in Portland, ME at Brick South on Thompson's Point. A complete list of out-of-state breweries available on-site is now public; all beer served at Sunaana, whether in- or out-of state brews, will be poured out of the Maine Beer Box. In the VIP section, an exclusive run of brews will be served by a private staff.

Beer is only half the equation. Sunaana highlights the best rising talent from Maine and New England at large, with a few thrilling Icelandic artists to boot. Among this year's artist highlights are Icelandic artists JFDR and Ceastone and Maine-based artists including Jeremiah Freed and King Kyote. The Icelandic artists' presence on the lineup comes from an inspiring trip that Sunaana's founders recently took to Iceland Airwaves; for Sunaana's 2017 debut, Icelandic band Mammút (whose newest album Kinder Versions was released last summer via Bella Union) was among the higlights.

But back to the beer, an understated highlight of this phenomenal new event nestled in a growing corner of the Northeast: Sunaana is collaborating with the highly experienced and knowledgeable staff at Bissell Brothers Brewing to curate the out-of-state craft beer offerings from. The complete in-state lineup features names as nationally prominent as Allagash Brewing Company and as locally legendary as Rising Tide Brewing Company. Throughout the festival, attendees can enjoy food, music, beer, and art across the street from the Bissell Bros tap room in the newly restored Brick South venue on Thompson's Point. For 2018, the fest is also collaborating with other members of the community to bring Sunaana performances to a small number of additional sites nearby.

Bands will perform on both Friday night (doors 6pm) and Saturday afternoon and night (doors3pm). Sunaana tickets are still available and can be purchased here; there will also be opportunities to enjoy food, beverage and music on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

Those who love beer, music, and culture in general won't want to miss Sunaana's second year; its first was acclaimed in Fodor's Travel and October. Now a two-day festival, the first year's successes, which exceeded even the highest expectations of its founders, will be repeated and expanded upon over twice as much time.

Sunaana artist set times:

Friday
Bel Heir 11:30pm
King Kyote 10:50pm
Ceasetone 10:10pm
Five Of The Eyes 9:30pm
Skosh 9:00pm
Boarderlines 8:30pm
Lights For Landing 8:00pm
Snughouse 7:30pm
The American Classic 7:00pm
The Fifth Freedom 6:30pm

Saturday
Jeremiah Freed 11:00pm
Axel Flovent 10:00pm
Trove 9:00pm
JFDR w/ MYRO 8:00pm
The Western Den w/ MYRO 7:30pm
The Chris Ross Band 7:00pm
The Welterweights 6:30pm
JanaeSound 6:00pm
OHX 5:30pm
Dreamer and Son 5:00pm
Joel Thetford 4:30pm
Xander Nelson 4:00pm