Local DJs Play Live Music at Tampa Polling Sites

Tampa, Fla. Local musicians are performing outside two voting locations in Tampa on Tuesday to add live entertainment to the Election Day experience. The events are part of the DJs at the Polls initiative, a national effort to encourage civic participation through community gatherings.

DJ Devin Walker is scheduled to perform from 7 to 11 a.m. outside Port Tampa Bay Cruise Terminal 6. Later in the day, DJ Johnny Champagne will provide music outside the Loretta Ingraham Community Center from 3 to 7 p.m. Organizers stated that live music will only be present at these designated polling places on Election Day, meaning early voting sites did not receive similar performances.

Alana Elias Kornfeld, founder and chief strategist of the organization, provided details on the event schedule and background. The initiative was founded by Anton Moore in 2009 at 23rd and Snyder in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It began at a single location before expanding to a nationwide scale in 2024.

The project operates as a fiscally sponsored nonpartisan initiative under the Focus for Democracy Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The organization hires and trains neighborhood DJs who typically perform at local weddings, reunions, and family celebrations. These performers are members of the communities where they play.

The group focuses on bringing familiar neighborhood sounds to civic spaces without adopting a political platform. The DJs do not endorse candidates, support political parties, or instruct residents on how to vote. The initiative seeks to make the act of voting feel like a community celebration.