Written By Lanie Cauthen, EIC
Photos By Kit Crosby, Photographer
Don’t Sweat It Fest returned this year – with music and vendors drawing in people across Rock Hill to celebrate local artists.
The festival officially started in 2010 after Don’t Sweat It Fest founder and musician Mike Gentry decided to host a music event at The Courtroom in The Getty Center. The event took off from there – growing in size with each year.
“I think we just need to be celebrating ourselves and our own work. It’s a celebration of our creativity,” Gentry said.
However, the event was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19. The next year, the festival became a non-profit and returned to full strength.
Today, Don’t Sweat It Fest is a four-day event. The fest started on Sept. 17 at Slow Play Brewing with karaoke and music from Aluminum 6. The Mercantile hosted night 2 of the fest – featuring NEHI, STEV and James Amaker II. The Sept. 19 event was held at The Courtroom – with performances from Sammy Wilson, Katy Pinke, True Optimist, Motel Glory and Compliant Club.
“[Katy Pinke] is like an indie, subtle artist, songwriter with an MFA degree, who did like these puppets,” Gentry said. “It was really weird. These crew made puppets. She had a little cardboard TV, and she would turn and the paper would change. She was the second act on Friday night, and no one knew who she was or knew anything about her, but the audience was quiet for her set – which is kind of nice.”
Saturday, Sept. 20 rounded out the festival with events around the city. Slow Play Brewing hosted a day show featuring – Damaris Bruce, Kadey Ballard and Ryan Lockhart. The brewery also hosted a local vendor market showcasing many local businesses. In the evening, The Courtroom hosted PTSD Radio, The Galactic Go-gos, CUBS, Telepathetics and Once Below Joy
However, the future of Don’t Sweat It Fest is up in the air. The Getty Center is up for sale, so Gentry is still deciding upon the future of the festival.
“I might take a year off,” Gentry said. “I might take three months off if we lose the building. Right now, I’m just thinking about one event at a time and what to do with that. So, I don’t really see the future of it.”
However, Gentry hopes to see more access to live music in Rock Hill in the future.
“We don’t have a dedicated theater venue other than what Winthrop has. The community outside of Winthrop doesn’t have a dedicated theater opinion. If you want to play music in Rock Hill, you often need to know two hours of music so you can go and play at Hobo’s play covers. There needs to be an entry point to the creative community.”
For future updates on the fest, follow Don’t Sweat It Fest on Facebook and Instagram.