The GroundUP Music Festival makes it’s return to the Miami Beach Bandshell in North Beach friom March 13 to 15, 2026. The weekend will feature an “eclectic live music, an intimate benefit party, masterclasses, workshops and late-night after-party jams.”
This years lineup features the legendary Patrice Rushen Bilal, Isaiah Sharkey, Flying Lotus, Rickie Lee Jones, Arooj Aftab, Julian Lage; Alain Perez, and Varijashree Venugopal.
Rushen shared her excitement about performing at the festvial for the first time.
“This will be my first time at the GroundUP Music Festival and I’m delighted to be performing with my band,” Rushen said to WBLS. “I’ve also been invited to sit in with Snarky Puppy. The weekend promises to be a real treat!”
Michael League, a co-founder of the event and leader of the jazz collective Snarky Puppy also shared about the growth of the festival over 10 years.
“We’re trying to shine a light on great artists who aren’t already very, very well known,” League said.“We’ve definitely had some artists on the (GroundUP) label at the festival with slightly bigger names. But for me, the heart of the festival is the artists people haven’t heard of when they come but then can’t stop talking about when they leave,” he continued. “Rather than a place to go to hear the people that you’re already a fan of, we try to make this festival a discovery point for people.”
THE FESTIVAL PROMOTES ACCESSIBILITY TO ARTISTS
Paul Lehr, CEO of the GroundUP Music Foundation, shared who the frestvial promotes accessibility to artists.
“Usually, artists will come in, go to their trailer, go to the stage, play, go back to their trailer, and be gone. With us, the artist stays the entire weekend,” says Lehr. “That breaks down the barriers between the artists and the audience. You can go up and talk to Isaiah Sharkey or Bilal or Flying Lotus or whoever else because they’re sitting there watching the other shows—and that changes the experience.”
The weekend also includes workshops and encounters such as “Artist to Artist”: Patrice Rushen interviewed by Nigel Hall; “The Legacy of D’Angelo”: Isaiah Sharkey interviewed by Bilal; Rickie Lee Jones on “Creativity in Popular Song”; and “Mind Games: Mentality in Music Production” with League.