Punk is rocking Lakeland on Sunday
LAKELAND — Lakeland Punk Rock Flea Market Vol. 5 slams into downtown’s Swan Brewing on Sunday, bringing some of the “counter” in counterculture to Polk County.
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.
The song remains the same.
Since the first two Punk Rock Flea Markets in 2019, (the event was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19), the third Sept. 26, 2021, and the fourth, March 27, the outside-the-box event has become increasingly popular, punk or not.
Held around the Swan Brewing premises and on a portioned-off adjacent Pine Street, the Sept. 25 Lakeland Punk Rock Flea Market will be the largest yet, said Swan Brewing founder Dan Thumberg. Six punk rock bands are scheduled to play live during the event.
Thumberg said the number of vendors has grown from 19 the first year that could fit on the brewery property to more than 50 vendors from across Central Florida this year, setting up booths along Pine Street that feature the odd, the creepy, the nostalgic and beyond.
“It has gotten to the point people now expect it to be here and the punk community and others are extremely enthusiastic,” said Thumberg, who opened Swan Brewing in 2018. “We now get people from all over the state coming here.”
Part of the draw to the flea market is the array of vendors. Among the vendors setting up shop will be Weapon of Design, an Orlando-based vintage China embellishment company; Chain Assembly, an arts and crafts business in St. Petersburg; Tarpon Springs’ Seventh Ink, a one-man art and clothing brand run by designer/artist Matthew Johnson; and Bedlam Skateboards out of Titusville.
Other vendors will come from as close as Orlando and Tampa and as far away as Chapel Hill, North Carolina, home of No Masters, a T-shirt and illustration vendor. They’ll be selling a variety of vinyl records, CDs, original art, handmade accessories, buttons, pins, retro toys, skateboards, clothing and other punk rock-era collectibles.
And there are six bands: States Away (Lakeland); Pig Pen and Lot Lizards (Tampa); Call in Dead and Vicious Dreams (Orlando); and Except You (Fort Myers).
The Lakeland Punk Rock Flea Market was conceived and organized by Chad Chastain. Along with his wife, Ellen, he also founded Lakeland’s annual Art Craw and skateboarding events.
Chastain, 41, currently plays drums for the Lakeland punk band The Kutoffs. He said each year he tries to mix the band lineup with a mix of regional and local acts. He founded the event in Lakeland hoping to attract local fans and shoppers while getting a mix of guests from Orlando and Tampa.
“With my decades of experience in playing and booking shows, as well as running different events throughout the years, I figured I knew of a way to make it fun for everyone, including kids and even ‘non-punks,’” he said.
A way to show another side of “punk” from what’s been portrayed in the media is another reason Chastain started the annual off-center music-flea market event.
“Punk music has a bad reputation from the movies, but I’ve never seen anything negative that isn’t also present in any other scene or church or community,” he said. “Punk rock has always been about open mindedness and having a good time, and that is what I look for in the vendors I select as well as the bands. My goal for the music is to expose bands from all over central Florida as well as expose my city to new music.”
To feed those fans, Thumberg said, there will be food vendors set up among the shoppers along Pine Street, including Mayday Ice Cream and Cuban B’s, Lakeland, and Jimmy’s Seafood, Bartow.
For the young, up-and-coming punk fans, the Lakeland Punk Rock Flea Market will include activities such as a do-it-yourself button booth, a skateboarding area, a “strange shopping” zone and a booth at which guests can pet and take pictures with live skunks.
All T-shirt and food sales at the flea market go to Pet Skunk Advocates and Rescue, Tampa, and Rose Dynasty Foundation Inc., a Lakeland non-profit group that works with LGBTQ youth to raise money for local charities.
“It’s a way for the public to see how much Swan Brewing cares about the community,” said Thumberg, who considers the flea market at “PG-13” event. “And I want the public to see that age-old ideas of what punk communities are, are fake. We want to show how absolutely awesome and amazing and fun the punk scene can be.”
The Lakeland Punk Rock Flea Market is supported by Ink Screen Printing, Art Crawl, LKLD Magazine, Rose Dynasty Foundation, Black T-Shirt Productions and Boards for Bros.
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Lakeland Punk Rock Flea Market Vol. 5
WHEN: Noon to 6 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 25
WHERE: Swan Brewing, 115 W. Pine St., Lakeland
COST: Free
INFO: 863-703-0472; www.swanbrewing.com/events; Facebook: Lakeland Punk Rock Flea Market: Vol. 5
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Punk rock and vendors take over Swan Brewing
