The Elements: Fire

teacher to numerous smiths. He prides himself on his teaching ability, and you can find him teaching smithing essentials to kids and adults alike on most weekends. John will be in the park’s blacksmith workshop all weekend doing his trademark “Blacksmith Challenge”, where he will start with iron and a heat source on Friday morning and build every tool in a blacksmith’s kit by the end of the festival. During John’s timeslots on the Folklife Stage, State Folklorist Dom is going to walk all interested participants to John’s workshop for a live demo.

Nels Parson, a fourth-generation Floridian, has spent his 45-year career working for land management agencies that use prescribed fire in their natural resource management. He has participated in or bossed over 350 prescribed burns and participated in over 150 wildfire suppression. He will be speaking on fire suppression and safety as occupational folklore on the Folklife Stage.

Folk Heritage Award winner, Buddy Mills of Okeechobee, learned the traditional skills required of a Florida cowboy from his father which he will demonstrate at the Folklife Stage Buddy is a longtime favorite of both the Folk Festival and the Florida State fair in Tampa, where you can find him at the Cracker Country Living History Museum. Stop by to see Buddy fixing a pot of Swamp Cabbage, the Florida Cracker term for sautéed hearts of Sabal Palm, the state tree of Florida.