This year, a larger Harvest

The Harvest of Hope music festival is only a week away from returning to the Sunshine State.

From March 12-14, the three-day festival is back at St. Augustine's St. Johns County Fairgrounds with every intention to live up to last year's lofty standards.

Headliners include Anti-Flag, Broken Social Scene, Portugal the Man, Billy Bragg, Kid Sister and The Mountain Goats, among many others.

This gathering of diverse music at the festival stems from humble beginnings.

Harvest of Hope is a foundation based out of Gainesville that dedicates its time to bringing awareness about migrant farm workers. As well, it provides educational and medical aid to overworked and underpaid workers.

The Future spoke with HOH foundation co-founder Ryan Murphy, about how the festival got started, what it aims to do and where it wishes to go.

"The basics of it are that I had been working at No Idea Records in Gainesville for the last ten years or so, while also working on my Masters degree in bilingual education, which had me involved in working with migrant farm worker children," Murphy said.  "I really wanted to do something to help raise money for the foundation, and since I work at a record label and know a bunch of bands, it seemed like a no-brainer to put together some benefit shows."

It's easy to see how the festival began. The right people at the right time with hard work and the right intentions have made Florida the home to an up-and-coming musical affair that highlights consciousness and impact.

"It seems like the more we do this, the more we learn and the more we know how to make this a success in raising money for the foundation," Murphy said.  "Even though it is the craziest and most stressful thing I've ever taken on in my life, it really makes me happy to see all the amazing people that come from all over the place to help support HOH, and I don't see myself stopping helping this festival grow anytime soon."

Government-opposing rockers Anti-Flag are scheduled to play the main stage at the fairgrounds on March 13.

Justin Sane, frontman of Anti-Flag, took up Harvest of Hope with a message in mind. 
"We're not nationalities, we're humans and we need to treat each other accordingly," Sane said. "We bring this message to every show and we try to set that tone."

For Sane, the meaning behind HOH really attracted him and he was more than pleased when he was called to be a part of the festival.

Harvest of Hope will be the culmination of a two-year tour for Sane as well as the other members of Anti-Flag.

However, frontman Justin Sane has somewhat more personal intentions and he divulged his plans of stepping up his solo project.

"I am a U.S and an Irish citizen," Sane said. "Ireland has a lot of influence on me and I've been thinking about dabbling into some Irish music."

One-day tickets for Harvest of Hope are $35 and three-day passes are $60.