Kimberly Mitchell

Carlmont seniors Brandon Gee and Adrian Cunningham perform alongside the other members of their group Sad In SF.

From riding a unicorn to listening to their peers perform, teens from around the Bay came together to share the stage, showcase their art, and kick off their summer with the Buoyancy Teen Music & Art Festival.

Buoyancy is a free festival made by teens for teens and features a variety of student bands and solo artists held at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto, in collaboration with groups such as Teen Arts Council (TAC) and the city of Palo Alto.

For organizers such as Leo Marbury, a junior at Palo Alto High School (Paly) and TAC member, the festival serves not only as an outlet for the creativity for teen artists but creates a space for anyone to enjoy live music, food, and a variety of summertime attractions.

“I think it’s really important to have events like these for teenagers because it gives us something to do,” Marbury said. “I think a lot of times, there’s like the inclination to go on your phone or just watch TV and have less face to face interactions. But I think an event like this allows people to have like a lot of fun and meet new people and hang out with their friends.”

Recent graduates from Paly such as Bees Baldwin and Anya Truvelja could be found dancing together throughout the event and cheering on their friends on stage. Both Baldwin and Truvelja attend last years festival and felt that Buoyancy was the perfect way to end their senior year.

Among the headliners were local favorites Willy and the Four Boys, a band made up of teachers from Palo Alto High School, and Carlmont’s Sad In SF.

“We have a lot of friends that are performing today and Willy and the Four Boys’ lead singer Steve Sabbag was my ninth grade history teacher,” Baldwin said. “They’re always really fun to listen to.”

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Kimberly Mitchell

Two kids watch on as Willy and the Four Boys play a series of songs from their track.

Aside from listening to and supporting their friends, Baldwin and Truvelja also enjoy the other attractions the festival offers.

“I’m looking forward to the little tent over there that has temporary tattoos. Because you can just put them all over your face and that’s just so fun to walk around with tattoos all over your face,” Baldwin said.

“It’s such a great way to kick off the summer and its nice to see all the people who just graduated as well,” Truvelja said.

After a day of day dancing and listening to their friends perform, rolling in giant hamster balls, and taking a shot at the dunk tank the festival concluded with a final performance by Sad In SF.

“Today was by far our best performance yet all our other events were at school so this was the first time we saw real people, outside of Carlmont supporting and enjoying our music,” said Brandon Gee, a member of Sad In SF.

For Adrian Cunningham, another singer in the group, this was the first time that he felt people appreciate their music.

“But Comic-Con? Three people. At Scotsland, people weren’t there to watch us. This time people actually came to watch us; they wanted to be there and there were even dancing,” Cunnigham said.

“It just goes to show just how important it is to have events like this,” said Ziad Kedkad, another Sad In SF singer. “It gives artists the chance to share our music to people who otherwise might not have heard us.”