One year ago, the second floor of The Old Factory Coffee Shop was filled with people not drinking coffee or tea or eating baked goods with a quiet conversation.
The people were instead at a rap concert.
It was the first Winter Rap Fest, a rap music festival in Orange City.
“There were about 100 or more people there, but only 60 could be upstairs,” said sophomore Jeriah Dunk, a member of the group Unique, who performed at last year’s first festival.
“The ceiling was seriously breaking on the first floor, there were so many people up there,” said sophomore Aaron Nash, another member of the group.
Unique, which, at the time of the festival last year, consisted of Dunk, Nash and sophomore Demargo Friedl, performed as well as former student Lee “Stovetop” Stover and Sophomore Jose Guadarrama—known as DJ Kid Cali.
The festival is returning for a second year with some big and exciting additions and improvements in terms of both sound and venue.
“The Sowienskis were great and loved having us at The Old Factory, but we had to find a different place to perform,” Nash said.
The show will take place at Living Water Community Church in Orange City this year to allow for more people to attend.
All the performers are returning with new songs, shows and new members in some groups, like Unique.
There will also be a few special guest performers this time around.
“We’ll have more equipment and better equipment,” Friedl said.
The group has lots of excitement and enthusiasm about this year’s Rap Fest.
“We want to show people that our music and message are legitimate, and we’re really serious about them,” Nash said.
The second annual Winter Rap Fest will take place at 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24th at Living Water Community Church. Admission is free and everyone is welcome.
“It’s a Friday night in Orange City,” Dunk said. “What else are you going to do?”
