KINGSTON – Joe Concra said he wishes there were no need for the annual music and arts festival he co-founded 15 years ago.
“I would like not to have to do this anymore,” he said of O+, which provides free medical care for artists. “But it’s worse now than when we started. (The medical industry) is more confusing, and there’s less care now than ever before, because the insurance industry is part of what the (Affordable Care Act) became.”
O+ is a festival that includes musical acts, performance artists and muralists, all of whom can get medical care in exchange for their artistic contributions to Kingston. Last year, the organizers opened a year-round clinic on Wall Street in the city, so the festival’s alumni, who number in the thousands, can get free care year-round from medical providers in the O+ network, Concra said.
The clinic now provides “regular access to primary care, physical therapy, nutrition counseling, mental health resources, complementary care, harm reduction and more,” according to the nonprofit’s 2024 annual report.
Since being founded 15 years ago – Concra said the idea came from a conversation at a bar with a dentist – the O+ Festival has expanded. The first iteration had 20 bands; this year, 55 will play. The number of medical providers has expanded from 25 to 125, with an additional 175 in the festival’s network available year-round, including mental health providers, dentists, primary care physicians, dermatologists and many others.
Concra calls the festival itself, which kicks off this Friday, a “Trojan horse” for the larger year-round network.
“The festival is just what shines a light on what we do … it’s the thing that brings everyone out,” he said.
Long-time Ulster County musician Lara Hope, the festival’s music co-director, said bands go through an application process to join the festival. Hope and music co-director Laura Crimmins put together a rotating committee made up of “people with different musical perspectives,” who look at the bands that have entered the open submissions process. As well as each band’s sound – they go for “genre diversity,” and acts include punk, hip-hop and dream-pop – they look for musicians who have health care needs, she said.
The festival also prioritizes local musicians – more than 50% come from the Hudson Valley – though bands from Baltimore, North Carolina and Texas have applied, Hope said. This year, 208 bands applied, with 55 making the final cut. Artists can reapply next year.
Some of the artists were sought out by the organizers, Concra said. This year’s roster includes Kool Keith, The Fiery Furnaces and Rachael Yamagata, as well as the author Jonathan Lethem.
As well as the music, O+ is known for its year-round mural program. Artists have created more than 60 works on Kingston buildings over the years, and these artists are also part of the medical exchange.
The festival also provides funding for artists’ transportation costs and houses those who stay overnight, Concra said.
Connor Mahoney, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the Hudson Valley-based band Rosegold, said this year was the group’s second time applying to the festival and their first time playing it.
The five-piece band, which is influenced by the Stone Temple Pilots and Jeff Buckley, formed two years ago when the members, who were all in high school, met at The Woodstock Academy, Mahoney said. Their reason for applying to the festival was less about the medical care and more about the band wanting “to get our name out there and play this really awesome festival for a great cause,” he added.
Sage Leopold, the vocalist for the Brooklyn-based PANIK FLOWER, said she appreciated the ability to get “general health services” without having to “jump through the loopholes” of insurance companies.
Many medical providers were more than willing to supply their services free of charge – because of the layers of insurance-company bureaucracy between a patient and their doctor, people forget most medical providers get into the industry because they want to help people, Concra said.
In a country that spends far more than other high-income countries on health care yet is the only one that does not guarantee it, Conra said the festival created a more human system, and one that should be replicated.
“I want every town in the country to do this for themselves,” he said.
The festival begins early Friday and runs through Sunday. Wristbands providing access to all the weekend’s acts can be purchased here. The festival’s schedule is here.
This article originally published at O+ Festival celebrates 15 years of getting artists health care.
