Since it was founded by Scranton-based singer/songwriter James Barrett in 2022, Good Things Are Happening Fest has been on an upward trajectory, attracting bigger names and bigger crowds to the Scranton Iron Furnaces each year.
In 2025, booking one of the most successful bands to ever come out of his hometown, The Menzingers, to headline the independent music festival garnered around 1,000 people and fulfilled a dream he had from the beginning of this annual journey.
“Year 4 was incredible. Just from pre-sale alone, we knew it was going to be our biggest event yet. When it was all said and done, we had about 1,000 people in attendance, and it really felt that way watching The Menzingers from the top of the furnaces. That is a memory I will never forget. It was very surreal thinking of the progress we made from 2022 in such a short amount of time. I was proud of this festival and all the people in NEPA that made it possible over the last few years,” Barrett recalled.
Today, he is exclusively announcing the lineup for Year 5 on NEPA Scene. Emo/indie/alternative rock bands Pool Kids from Tallahassee, Florida and Have Mercy from Baltimore, Maryland are at the top of the bill, alongside a reunion of Scranton psychedelic indie pop rockers The SW!MS, who haven’t played together since their last reunion in 2021.
The Virgos (Wilkes-Barre heavy metal), Wild Red (Wilkes-Barre pop punk), Latewaves (Asbury Park, New Jersey indie/alt/punk), Purple Lung (Kingston doom metal), Rachel Ana Dobken (Asbury Park alt/indie rock), Connor Bracken and the Mother Leeds Band (Asbury Park blues rock), and Look Back Luna (Wilkes-Barre indie/post-hardcore) round out the rest of the lineup on Saturday, Sept. 12. As is the tradition, Barrett’s full band will also perform at the all-ages event, which starts at noon at the Scranton Iron Furnaces (159 Cedar Ave., Scranton).
Tickets, which are $35, are on sale now via TicketLeap.
“Pool Kids has been on my radar for a long time ever since I met [bassist] Nicolette [Alvarez] a few years ago. They are such an incredible band, and I knew they were going to continue to blow up this year, and I was right. Following our festival, they’re hitting the road with Death Cab for Cutie in Europe, and they’re supporting Tigers Jaw this summer as well. They’re a perfect fit for this festival, and I am really stoked to have them,” he noted.
“I met the Have Mercy guys last summer at The Ritz Theater for the Road to Warped event. My bandmate Vinny [Amarando] has been talking about how good they are for years. When I saw them play later on in the day, they really blew my mind, and I’ve been listening to them ever since. We all ended up talking at the end of the day and they told us they really loved our sound, so it just felt right trying to get them back for this year’s festival.”
For the first four years, the headliners have all been Scranton natives, so while Barrett has changed it up a bit this time, he believes these groups will appeal to the audience he has built around the festival and his own indie rock music.
“Both of these bands have this nostalgic and uplifting sound that I think will resonate a lot with the crowd. They have great energy and write powerful songs. That’s all you need to win over an audience,” he emphasized.
“In a perfect world, we would have a big NEPA band every year, but I think having The SW!MS is doing just that.”
Like many local music fans, The SW!MS’ boundless energy left an impression on him that continues to this day.
“I am so excited to have The SW!MS on board. Growing up, I would see them play at the NEPA Holiday Show each year and always loved how fun their sets were. I knew I needed a big NEPA band on the bill, and they were the first one to come to mind. I texted [frontman] Brian [Langan] and told him we’d love to have them and just like that we were rolling,” he explained.
“They just remind me of my youth and growing up here. The small number of people that found out they were playing were so excited, so I think we’re all in the same boat.”
What has stayed the same this year is his careful curation of locals and touring acts that mix genres into the perfect playlist of up-and-coming rock bands.
“We have so many awesome acts this year. It may be my favorite lineup yet. I just wanted to grab some NEPA bands that haven’t played yet, and we got an awesome group of them between Wild Red, Purple Lung, The Virgos, and Look Back Luna. They all are so deserving of a show like this, and I am overjoyed to have them. I always get a few regional bands as well, which led me to grabbing Latewaves, Rachel Ana Dobken, and Connor Bracken and the Mother Leeds Band. They all rip and will blow some minds this year.”
Once the list is finalized and the contracts are signed, that’s when the real labor begins.
“The amount of work that is involved behind the scenes is crazy. It becomes a full-time job every summer trying to get the event to a point where you feel confident the day of going in. I am not sure if I ever felt that way despite how much work we all put in, but I am hopeful this year I can enjoy the day a little more. There is always something you forget, and the day of the fest we’re running around like crazy trying to make it run smoothly. Last year, it was our POS systems not working, and we had to enter cards manually for the whole day. There are a ton of little things we have learned each year and try to do better the next. After four festivals, I think we are ready for anything now.”
Barrett is also ready to release his long-awaited third album, as if he didn’t have enough Good Things on his plate already.
“JB3, for the love of god. Every year, I say, ‘This is the year I put out my third LP,’ and every year it doesn’t happen. I can confidently say my new record will be out in the fall, and we plan on debuting a lot of new music at the festival this year,” he said.
“Year 5 feels really huge. I never thought this event would make it this far, yet somehow it has grown tremendously every year. I am excited for the bands playing and all the cool vendors we have. I think it’s going to be our best yet.”
