Two acts received top billing at MadSoul, a music and arts festival in Florida, on Saturday. The first was Muna, an indie-pop group that opened for Taylor Swift at some Eras Tour stops. The second: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York.
She and several elected Democrats shared a stage with musicians like Phoebe Bridgers during the daylong event at Loch Haven Park in Orlando. Other politicians included Representatives Greg Casar of Texas and Maxwell Frost of Florida, the first Gen-Z member of Congress.
Mr. Frost, a percussionist, is also the founder of the MadSoul Festival, which he started in 2018 when he was working as an organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union. He said in an interview before this year’s event that he had “personally booked the whole lineup.”
Mr. Frost — who played drums for Venture Motel, a local band, during its set at the festival — described the event as a way to reach people who might not be as interested in politics as they were in politics as entertainment, a concept that has spread since the election of the country’s first reality-TV-star president.
There are “people who won’t go to a political rally but will come to this,” said Mr. Frost, 27, whose district includes most of Orlando. “This is one of the ways we can activate them and connect with them.”
MadSoul Festival followed a playbook that had been in use by organizations like Rock the Vote, but with a nakedly partisan and progressive approach. Some festival tickets were free while others started at $20, and event proceeds went to Mr. Frost’s re-election campaign and to a political action committee affiliated with him. A portion of those earnings were earmarked for groups that supported causes like L.G.B.T.Q. rights and abortion rights in Florida.
Near a booth selling festival T-shirts and other merchandise were tables for people to learn about community organizations or register to vote ahead of the 2024 election. Musical performances were interspersed with speeches, some criticizing recent laws passed in Florida that banned books, restricted abortion access and prohibited discussions about sexual identity in schools.
Other remarks addressed gun violence: Brandon Wolf, 35, spoke about surviving the mass shooting at the Orlando nightclub Pulse, and Manuel Oliver, 56, spoke about his son, Joaquin, who was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Another Democratic politician on the lineup, Montana State Representative Zooey Zephyr, said in an interview before speaking to the crowd that the concept of “the personal being political” has become trite to some people.
But Ms. Zephyr, who is transgender and who last year was barred from taking the floor of the Montana House of Representatives for criticizing a bill banning transition care for transgender minors, added that, to her, “There’s no way to view our political fight for a better country as anything other than a deeply personal fight for each and every community.”
Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones, before speaking onstage, said that the festival was “very much about celebration,” but that it was “also a form of resistance to what is around us.”
Instead of a white suit like the one he was wearing last year when he was expelled from the Tennessee Legislature over a gun-control protest, Mr. Jones, a Democrat, wore a shirt that read “there is no Planet B.” But what the suit represented seemingly influenced the outfit choice of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, who wore a white jumpsuit.
Many of the almost 3,000 people who attended also wore clothes that reflected the event’s political aspect. A number of shirts were emblazoned with quotes attributed to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; other shirts addressed the Israel-Hamas war with phrases like “cease-fire now.”
But among the self-described activists, soon-to-be-first-time voters and community organizers in the crowd were many people who said they were primarily drawn to the festival by its promise of music and arts.
Kiana Bartloff, 22, a cast member at Disney World in Orlando, said she came to see Lin-Manuel Miranda. He spoke about civic engagement before introducing a performance by a theater troupe from a local high school, which performed a medley that included songs Mr. Miranda had written for “Hamilton” and “In The Heights.”
Ms. Bartloff, who was wearing a rainbow-striped ribbon and a shirt from the Disney Pride line, described herself as someone who wasn’t “necessarily politically involved.” Even though music and arts might have brought her to the festival, she said, attending allowed her “to hear the message that I wouldn’t otherwise come here for.”
When asked about her shirt, she said, “I obviously have opinions; however, pride no longer seems like an issue of politics.”
Claire Classon, a student at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., said she had come to see Muna. Her outfit — a pink slip dress and white lace tights — was a homage to the band’s song, “Silk Chiffon.”
But Ms. Classon, 18, who had accessorized her look with friendship bracelets, said she was excited by the chance to see Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Frost, too. Gun violence was also on her mind at the festival: She said she was “always worried about that, especially since Parkland.”
A few hours into the event, a protest against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza formed just outside the entrance to the festival. It involved groups including the Florida Palestine Network, which has accused Mr. Frost of being insufficiently supportive of Palestinians. Mr. Frost, who has cosponsored legislation calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, took the stage amid the protest to reiterate his support for a cease-fire.
Later, after the demonstration had died down, more tension broke inside the festival. During Muna’s performance, some supporters of Palestinians in the crowd demanded to be let onstage. The band, which had voiced support for a cease-fire during its set, stopped playing and walked offstage. About 10 minutes later, Muna returned and went on to finish its set by performing “Silk Chiffon” with Ms. Bridgers as a surprise guest.
Katie Gavin, a member of Muna, said in an interview before the band’s performance that she didn’t think its members — all of whom identify as queer — have tried to separate their political and musical identities. “We just saw it as being all together, and so I think because of that we’ve developed a fan base,” she said.
She added that the band’s fans have shaped its members’ approach to politics. “They’ll hold us accountable,” she said, “if we’re not speaking on something.”
