When Chad Chastain first booked bands to play Lakeland’s Punk Rock Flea Market, he just solicited a few bands he personally knew that year. About 1,500 people showed up to shop and listen.
That was in 2019. By 2023, more than 4,000 people showed up for the 2023 Punk Rock Flea Market, a day when everyone can be “punk,” with or without piercings, spiked orange hair, or an attitude.
If you go
WHAT: Punk Rock Flea Market Vol. 8
WHEN: Noon to 6 p.m., March 24
WHERE: Swan Brewing
COST: Free
INFO: www.lakelandpunkflea.com
The eighth edition of the Punk Rock Flea Market takes place from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday along the shore of Lake Wire at Lakeland’s Swan Brewing, vendors and food trucks from across Florida and the southeastern United States in 76 spaces will be on hand, selling a variety of jewelry, classic vinyl records, goth and punk club wear, clothing, band t-shirts, stickers, custom-designed vintage dinnerware and other music and punk-rock related items.
For those unfamiliar with the outa-the-mainstream music genre, in the mid-1970s, punk was a rock movement that consisted of short, fast songs, minimal instrumentation, and screeching vocals often consisting of political, anti-establishment lyrics. That anti-establishment aura continues to this day all over the world.
Locally, the first two Punk Rock Flea Markets were held in 2019, (the event was canceled in 2020 and early 2021 because of COVID-19). But it has taken place twice a year, in March and September, ever since.
Chastain, event coordinator and self-proclaimed “old punk rock dude,” has been in charge of finding bands to play at the event since the beginning.
Chastain, 43, is also the drummer for one of this year’s bands, The Kutoffs. He said he generally books bands to play that he has “some kind of a relationship with,” but also asks bands, generally by email, he’s personally seen play and he thought would be a good fit musically, visually, and diversely..
“A lot of it is, if you’ve been part of the music scene for 20 years, you kind of know some guys,” said Chastain, who lives in Lakeland with a 16-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. “And I wasn’t able to this time, but I always try to have some female or LBGTQ representation, too. Sometimes, I have to change (format) standards or go another music route to get that.”
Scheduled for the 2024 Punk Rock Flea Market are:
- 12:30 p.m. American Dream Survivors (Gainesville) — a five-piece, playing eclectic Americana, folk-punk.
- 1:30 p.m. Human Error (St Petersburg) — four-piece playing classic, aggressive, street punk.
- 2:30 p.m. “A Decade At Sea (Miami) — four-piece playing 1990s’ style skate punk.
- 3:30 p.m. Never Ender (Melbourne) — four-piece playing skate punk with some pop punk.
- 5:30 p.m. The Kutoffs (Lakeland) — three-piece pop punk with heavier and softer songs.
- 4:30 p.m. Up From Here (Tampa) — three-piece playing pop punk.
- All day. DJ Dadd (Lakeland) – deejay spinning classic punk standards and new punk tunes.
If you go
WHAT: Punk Rock Flea Market Vol. 8
WHEN: Noon to 6 p.m., March 24
WHERE: Swan Brewing,
COST: Free
INFO: www.lakelandpunkflea.com