All Aboard! Savanah Stopover Music Festival takes over the Georgia State Railroad Museum

After canceling 2021’s festival, the annual Savannah Stopover comes full circle as COVID restrictions are completely lifted just in time for this year’s event. “It’s been touch and go for everyone in the live music industry until the last week,” said Lanahan. “If we get to come back full-force I think it’s an interesting twist of fate, in a good way.”

Credit: Bill Dawers / For Do Savannah

Credit: Bill Dawers / For Do Savannah

Since its inaugural event, Savannah Stopover traditionally has taken place over several days in multiple bars, clubs and venues spread out across the city. This year, the organizers decided to try a different approach to the festival by moving the entire show to the Georgia State Railroad Museum grounds.

“With the closing of the Jinx and some other things with music clubs downtown, and the whole uncertainty of COVID, that we were trying to find an option that would give us a higher percentage chance of being able to pull off a festival,” explained Lanahan.

Lanahan organized her Americana-oriented Revival Fest at the Railroad Museum for three years, but it was focused on only one stage in the western building. This time, Stopover will cover the entire grounds and facilities with four main stages, VIP acoustic stage, food trucks, and vendors.

Credit: Courtesy of Tremble Productions

Credit: Courtesy of Tremble Productions

“We always loved the space and the grounds,” said Lananhan. “Kind of in the back of my mind I had always thought it would make such a cool location to do a multi-stage, spread out festival.”

You would think that containing the festival in one location would make organizing the weekend easier, as opposed to spreading out in multiple, disparate venues. However, hosting a massive festival at the historic site brings its own challenges.

“We thought it was going to be easier, but it’s more logistics, just because that space is incredible, but really DIY,” said Lanahan. “We have to bring in bathrooms, and power, and tents. In the past we were able to sort of move into existing venues for the weekend. In this case we are actually creating venues for the weekend.”

Each stage is different with its own genre or vibe-specific line-ups. The blacksmith shop, for example, will feature Americana and folk artists like Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Daniel Donato, and The Bones of J.R. Jones.

Credit: Courtesy of Christina Schneider, Savannah Stopover

Credit: Courtesy of Christina Schneider, Savannah Stopover

The metal workshop outdoor ruins will house a large Stageline SL100 for bands like Of Montreal, SASAMI, Glove, and Scotland’s We Were Promised Jetpacks. The paint shop will feature Soccer Mommy, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, American Aquarium, and many more.

“It’s an amazing historic site and we’re excited to turn it into a music-centric space for a few days.”

Booking bands for Stopover posed other challenges in these uncertain times. Stopover has always prided itself for booking up-and-comers that went on to bigger things like Grimes, Mac DeMarco, The War on Drugs, and Future Islands. The festival’s philosophy hasn’t changed, but with 600-700 band applicants, the organizers were more tentative with who they booked this year.

“When I began booking bands last summer, nobody was sure what was going to happen and if it was going to go on, so I think we had a little bit more of a comfort level with bands who were closer in the South,” said Lanahan. “It wasn’t quite by design, but as it was coming together it just felt like the right approach to a year of uncertainty.

Credit: Photo by Bill Dawers

Credit: Photo by Bill Dawers

“At one point I decided we’re just jumping off a bridge and assuming this will all work out, and just went for what we thought was the best combination of talent that just made sense.”

Another aspect of the festival that has changed is that this is the first year that Stopover will be all-ages, making it possible for younger fans and families with children to see their favorite bands. Instead of seeing bands in a bar at 1 a.m., families can settle down on a picnic blanket in the grass.

“We’re hoping that is opens up the festival to a wider range of people in Savannah who might not have come when it was downtown and the shows were later. We’re basically ending most of the music by 11 o’clock at night. It’s a pretty different animal than it’s been in the past, but we’re excited to try it. We’ve never been able to do a lot of food truck and vendors, so we’re excited to have a more traditional outdoor festival.”

For tickets and a full schedule of bands, visit savannahstopover.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: All Aboard! Savanah Stopover Music Festival takes over the Georgia State Railroad Museum