2026 FL Folk Festival Program

Thank You

To our 74th Annual Sponsors

Dr. Paul Sullivan

Ralph & Debra Reid

Pam Hyde

Tom & Nancy Wilson

Thomas Lowry

2026 Contributing Angels

In Memory of Barbara Beauchamp

Howard & Carolyn Pardue

Dudley & Gail Matthews

Walter & Merri McKenzie

Jim & Sally Moses

Bebe Willis

The Bullard Family

Danny Hales

Sheila Hiss

Louis Chiavacci

A Weekend of Entertainment, Participation and Exhibits

Along the banks of the historic Suwannee River in White Springs, Florida, folk artists gather to celebrate Florida’s land, people, and diverse cultural heritage. Since its humble beginning in 1953, the Florida Folk Festival has not only grown to become Florida’s most prestigious affair but also named “Florida’s Best Cultural Event.” The festival has been recognized by the Southeast Tourism Society as a “Top 20 Event” in the southeastern United States.

Get ready for a fun and entertaining weekend for the entire family! Our feature performers are listed below with the evening of their amphitheater performance. Many will be performing or teaching workshops some other time throughout the weekend along with our special guest artists. You can even dance the night away each evening with a variety of dances; and don’t miss dancing with Papaloko & Loray Mistik Friday evening on the Heritage and Dance Stage. Check out our full schedule of events for specific times and stages.

MELODY TRUCKS & THE FITZKEE BROTHERS (Saturday Night)

Melody Trucks & The Fitzkee Brothers bring a powerhouse blend of Southern rock, jam, and improvisational fire to every performance. This electrifying collaboration features Melody Trucks (percussion/vocals), Drew Fitzkee (bass/vocals), and Alex Fitzkee (drums/ vocals), backed by a rotating cast of elite guitarists and keyboardists. Every show is a unique, high-energy experience that leaves crowds wanting more.

Melody Trucks has captivated audiences at The Peach Music Festival, Suwannee Rising, and Hulaween. As the daughter of the late Butch Trucks (The Allman Brothers Band), she continues the legacy with deep grooves, soulful vocals, and an undeniable stage presence.

The Fitzkee Brothers are rising stars in the modern jam scene, known for their explosive blend of Allman Brothersstyle improvisation, Hendrix-inspired intensity, and Foo Fighters-level energy. Their single “Give You All My Love” has racked up over 125,000 streams, and “Lakesong” landed on Spotify’s Modern Jam Band editorial playlist. They’ve shared the stage with Duane Betts, Robert Randolph, Jorma Kaukonen, and have jammed with Post Malone.

Notable Appearances:

• Headlined Willie’s Crazy Train Campout with Melvin Seals & Ron Holloway

• Opened for Live Dead & The Brothers

• Performed at SXSW and Allman Betts Family Revival Afterparties

• Lit up Asheville Music Hall with Claude Coleman Jr. (Ween) and Marcus White (Shady Recruits)

With a debut album on the horizon and momentum building fast, Melody Trucks & The Fitzkee Brothers are set to deliver a night of unforgettable music.

Growing up in rural Florida near the headwaters of the Everglades in gator and panther country helped shape Prestage’s spanish-moss-covered sound, but he had music in his blood before birth.

BEN PRESTAGE (Friday Night)

A Weekend of Entertainment, Participation and Exhibits

Ben’s maternal great-grandmother was the leader of an all-girls band (at a time  when that was unheard-of) that toured the popular vaudeville circuit and performed with one of the most famous and highest paid stars of the 1920’s- Al Jolson. Her daughter was an accomplished boogie-woogie piano player.

On his father’s side, Ben’s grandfather played Blues and Country guitar in a Mississippi string band, when he wasn’t sharecropping cotton and sweet potatoes or cutting timber.

Prestage cut his teeth performing in Florida fish camps, biker bars and tourist traps, and after a stint as street performer on historic Beale Street in Memphis, TN Ben emerged as one of world’s top one-man-bands. After a releasing a dozen albums, and touring across the US and more than a dozen countries, Ben Prestage continues to create music that “soars like a swamp hawk and wallows like an old bull gator.”

WALTER PARKS (Friday Night)

In 2020 Walter Parks was invited by The Library of Congress to archive his research on and perform his arrangements of music made by the homesteaders of the headwaters of the Suwannee River – The Okefenokee Swamp. The hollers, hymns and reels of those hardy southeast Georgia homesteaders are featured in his one man show “Swamp by Chandelier”

For 10 years Parks, a Florida native born and raised in Jacksonville, served as the sideman guitarist to Woodstock Festival legend Richie Havens. Now based out of St. Louis, Walter has recently co-written with Stan Lynch, former Tom Petty drummer and has performed at various venues with R&B drum legend Bernard Purdie and at Lincoln Center with Judy Collins.

“In much the same way that The Okefenokee Swamp still is the eastern United States’ final frontier, it has also served the same for my career, for by it I have found uncharted territory and that’s hard to do in the music business.”

Ben Flournoy is a rising guitarist and singer-songwriter out of Quincy, Florida, known for electrifying guitar work and smooth, soulful vocals. Blending modern pop with bluesy folk, his sound is both fresh and familiar—rooted in classic influences while delivering a contemporary, radioready edge. A self-taught musician, Ben has quickly built a reputation as one of the next standout guitar voices, combining high-energy performances with honest, to-thepoint songwriting. Whether solo or with the Ben Flournoy Trio, he brings raw emotion and powerful musicianship to every stage. With appearances at SXSW 2025 and 2026, a Goldmine Magazine interview, and his single “So Beautiful” charting on Mediabase radio, Ben is steadily gaining momentum as an artist to watch.

THE BEN FLOURNOY TRIO (Friday Night)

A Weekend of Entertainment, Participation and Exhibits

THE KRICKETS

(Friday Night)

The Krickets are an Americana trio from the gulf coast whose music is what Paste Magazine calls “a truly stunning, one-of-a-kind sound.” Two-time IMA Song of the Year winner in both Folk and Alt Country categories, the band’s music is genre-bending Americana steeped in their signature folk harmony.  Fresh out of the studio with Single Lock’s Record’s Austin Motlow, they just released their third full length album If You Only Knew October 30, 2025.

This latest album follows a 2023 single Pay No Mind with Rick Hirsch and a 2020 self-produced release, These Games  that premiered in American Songwriter Magazine’s Best New Music feature.  Prior to that the band recorded two full length studio albums, Redbird (2018) in Nashville with Sam Ashworth and Spanish Moss Sirens (2016) with Single Lock Records’ Ben Tanner in Muscle Shoals, AL.

While all have solo projects the three singer songwriters who make up the Krickets include Emily Stuckey Sellers, Lauren Spring and Rachel Grubb.  Originally coming together to play a breast cancer benefit, the band is passionate about supporting their namesake, TheCricketFund.org which provides cancer aid to the uninsured.

“The Krickets send chills down your spine and lift you sky high...”  No Depression

UNCLE MOSIE (Friday Night)

Uncle Mosie is a Gainesville, Florida-based band blending bluegrass, folk, and alt-country with rich harmonies and powerful vocals. Their dynamic performances encompass a broad range of sonic experiences - from foot-stomping barn-burners to moving ballads that hit deep and give you all the feels. They mix up traditional bluegrass instrumentation with contemporary vocal arrangements, original songwriting, and exciting interpretations of favorites from other artists. Whether on a festival stage or in an intimate listening room environment, Uncle Mosie plays and sings their hearts out, every time - delivering an unforgettable, high-energy performance filled with passion and fun.

ELDER CHARLOT & THE AKOUSTIKS (Saturday Night)

Elder Charlot & the Akoustiks is a dynamic AfroCaribbean ensemble led by Haitian singer, songwriter, and producer Elder Charlot. Blending acoustic soul with the rich rhythms of Haiti, the band creates a vibrant, genre-crossing sound rooted in konpa, Haitian folk & Roots, blues, and world music. Renowned for their electrifying live shows, the band also brings a fresh,

A Weekend of Entertainment, Participation and Exhibits

soulful edge to cover performances, reimagining blues, rock, and roots jazz classics through an Afro-Caribbean lens. With standout tracks like “Ayibobo,” “Vayb la Bon,” and “Kowensidans,” Elder Charlot & the Akoustiks deliver an experience that is both deeply rooted and globally resonant.

KARIBBEAN GROOVE

(Saturday Night)

Karibbean Groove is a dynamic six-piece dance band that has been entertaining audiences since 2004 with the sounds of the Caribbean. They specialize in many genres of music including Konpa, Reggae, Zouk, Merengue, Salsa, and Calypso. Karibbean Groove is the perfect blend of professional musicians with musical versatility, vocal harmonies and broad-based audience appeal.

The band has been playing at the hottest night clubs, state festivals, fundraising/community and private/corporate events such as the Reggae Festivals with artists such as Third World, the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs Florida, and the Ronald McDonald House Fundraiser gala, just to name a few.

Karibbean Groove is also well known for being involved in events that highlight diversity, celebrate culture and community empowerment locally and around the world. The band is involved in events with local churches, and non-profit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, and Friends Together. Their members also travel to Africa to provide free health clinics to women and children suffering from HIV/AIDS and Haiti to distribute Christmas presents and school supplies to children in need.

Their vision is to infuse everyone with their love for music and culture.

PAPALOKO & LORAY MISTIK

(Saturday Night)

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jude Thegenus—also known as Papaloko—is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, and cultural ambassador whose work is deeply rooted in spirituality, tradition, and community. His artistic journey began at the age of six, studying sculpture and ceramics at the Art Institute of Saint Jean Bosco and later at Lycée Anténor Firmin. Over time, he mastered a wide range of Haitian artistic disciplines, from traditional to contemporary, developing a distinctive acrylic style known for its rich textures and emotional depth. His creative process is often guided by trance and meditative states, reflecting a profound connection to the spirit world and the influence of Vodou.

Thegenus’ career spans education, illustration, graphic design, and large-scale immersive installations. His work has been exhibited in Haiti, Trinidad, Canada, France, and the United States, and can be found in galleries, private collections, and public spaces worldwide. Notable projects include an expansive, multi-year installation at Mango’s Tropical Café in Miami’s South Beach, as well as works featured at Tap Tap, Club Paradise in New York, and in the private collection of championship boxer Lennox Lewis.

A Weekend of Entertainment, Participation and Exhibits

A dedicated cultural leader, Thegenus founded the Jakmel Art Gallery, Cultural Center, and Caribbean Backyard in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District in 1999, creating a space for artistic collaboration and cultural exchange. In 2004, he established Papaloko4Kids, a nonprofit organization committed to empowering youth—especially in Haiti— through access to music, dance, and the visual arts. His advocacy extends beyond the arts; he has also organized community efforts and fundraisers in response to social justice issues, including support for the Abner Louima case.

In addition to his visual art, Thegenus is the founder and leader of Loray Mistik, a Vodou pop ensemble whose name means “Mystic Thunder.” Formed in 1989, the group serves as ambassadors of Haiti’s rich musical and spiritual traditions, blending traditional Vodou rhythms such as Rara and Petwo with contemporary sounds. Rooted in a history shaped by African, Indigenous, and diasporic influences, their music carries messages of social consciousness, spirituality, and resilience.

Loray Mistik performances are immersive, ceremonial experiences that go beyond entertainment. Featuring traditional instruments such as the kleroon, graj, conch shell, and a variety of sacred drums alongside guitar, bass, and saxophone, the group creates a powerful fusion known as “Vodou pop.” Performances often include ritual elements—dance, body painting, candles, and flags representing the Vodou Nations—and invite audiences into a deeply spiritual space where music, prayer, and community intersect. It is not uncommon for audiences to experience trance-like states, reflecting the group’s authentic connection to the Lwa, or spirits.

Having “felt the drum” from a young age, Thegenus bridges visual art and music as parallel expressions of the same spiritual force. Through both his artwork and his leadership of Loray Mistik, he continues to honor and share the cultural traditions of Haiti, creating work that is as spiritually resonant as it is artistically powerful.

LILI FORBES AND THE FUNKY TATERS (Saturday Night)

Expect to hear original music by Lili Forbes and Michael Lewis when Lili & The Funky ‘Taters take the stage at the Florida Folk Fest.  Forbes, along with her twin sister from St. Maarten, have been singing and performing together since they were 12 years old.  Growing up with the folk musical traditions of the Caribbean, they soon became expert in many Caribbean rhythms, including gospel, and toured the islands as teenagers.  Today, they have their own separate musical careers but still compose songs together.  The ‘Taters have existed in different mutations since their formation in 2013.  Today, they are a ten-piece band with horns and a washboard; they play danceable funk, jazz, and blues, with an emphasis on New Orleans rhythms.  They are led by Michael Lewis, who first began composing songs in 1990.  Forbes, who now lives in Tallahassee, and Lewis, from Woodville, first came together for a performance at the International Jazz Plaza Festival in Havana, Cuba, in 2019, where they played their originals as well as jazz and pop covers.  They have been playing together ever since for special occasions, such as the International Jazz Plaza Festival in Havana, Cuba and, of course, the Florida Folk Festival.  So put on your dancin’ shoes!

A Weekend of Entertainment, Participation and Exhibits

THE LEE BOYS

(Saturday Evening)

The Lee Boys are one of America’s finest African American sacred steel ensembles. This family group consists of three brothers, Alvin Lee (guitar), Derrick Lee and Keith Lee (vocals) along with their three nephews, Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar), Alvin Cordy, Jr. (7-string bass) and Earl Walker (drums). Each member began making music at the ages of 7 and 8 in the House of God church they attended in Perrine, FL. Born and raised in Miami, each of The Lee Boys grew up in the church where their father and grandfather, Rev. Robert E. Lee, was the pastor and a steel player himself.

“Sacred steel” is a type of music described as an inspired, unique form of Gospel music with a hard-driving, bluesbased beat. The musical genre is rooted in Gospel, but infused with rhythm and blues, jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop, country and ideas from other nations. Influenced by the Hawaiian steel guitar fad of the 1930’s, brothers Willie and Troman Eason brought the electric lap steel guitar into the worship services of the House of God church in Jacksonville, FL. The Pentecostal congregation embraced the soulful sound, and over time this unique sound became the hallmark of the church. The Lee Boys are part of the fourth generation of musicians in this faith.

When The Lee Boys bring their joyous spiritual sound to the stage, audiences instantly recognize that this is not “sitting and listening” music: dancing, shouting out, and having fun are considered essential parts of their tradition. Founder and bandleader Alvin Lee explains, “the inspiration and feeling that comes along with our music is

the reason that people feel good. It is like the new music on the block and it’s just getting ready to explode!” It’s mostly original material, with a few standards and hymns the group “blueses up a little.” In 2008-09 alone they performed for more than 250,000 music fans at festivals throughout the United States. In the process, their unique sound has attracted musical artists such as Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, Los Lobos, Gov’t Mule, Umphrey’s McGee, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk and The Travelin’ McCourys- all of whom have played with the Lee Boys and/or invited them to tour with them.

They’ve performed throughout the United States, Canada and Europe and will continue influencing audiences worldwide with their “sacred steel”. Their tour calendar includes over 100 major festival performances, including headline stops at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Memphis in May, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, MerleFest, DelFest, Wanee and All Good Festival. In December 2008, the band debuted on national television with a rousing performance on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien that had the host jumping out of his chair and raving about the band.

The Lee Boys have been in the studio with The Travelin’ McCourys have completed a joint album entitled “Meetin’ In The Middle” which illustrates their amazing bluegrass/ sacred steel festival shows and adds to their growing discography.

Expect the unexpected! Described as a “whiskey snortin’, happy-go-lucky, good-time band,” The Firewater Tent Revival is a psychedelic bluegrass band from the

THE FIREWATER TENT REVIVAL (Sunday Night)

A Weekend of Entertainment, Participation and Exhibits

small fishing village of Mayport, located just outside of Jacksonville Florida. Not quite Bluegrass, Country or Rock, this is “Psychedelic-Party-Grass.” Storyteller style lyrics, using bluegrass instrumentation, done jam band style, by a High-Energy String Band simply makes you want to dance.

Formed in 2010 and originally called The Hopeless, Dave Smith and Jon Deering formed the band simply to be able to keep playing music together. Soon after, new members joined the band, and it had several featured guest artists. The group recorder their first EP “Sinkin Boat” in February 2015. Two months later they played their way into the hearts of the Jacksonville public, winning third place in the popular crowd funding festival One Spark.

Folio Weekly Magazine, Jacksonville’s most widely printed arts and entertainment publication. proclaimed, “The Firewater Tent Revival burns it up with primo bluegrass and a hot party vibe” and describes them as being “on a subliminal mission to return the music to its original function as pure entertainment.”  “When it isn’t fun to do any more it’s over,” is the perspective the band maintains.

THE

LUBBEN BROTHERS (Sunday Night)

Lauded for their “remarkable musicianship and humble idealism” (The Sun Sentinel), The Lubben Brothers have spent their lives pioneering an original sound steeped in lyrical sensitivity, rich vocal harmonies, brotherly banter, and the multi-instrumental flair of the American folk tradition.

After sharing childhood on a goat farm in a family of six brothers, Michael, Josh, and Tom weave their colorful life story into their concerts and songs, earning a reputation as “a folk-singing force” (Palm Beach Illustrated) now with roots in Nashville, TN.

FRANKIE J & THE CHICKEN PARADE (Sunday

Evening)

Frankie J & The Chicken Parade perform high energy comedic folk music masterpieces penned by Frank Julian. Audience participation in the form of singing, squawking, and clucking is encouraged. The Chicken Parade regulars are often joined by star players abducted from other bands. Come check out this barnyard bonanza of big fun and share a laugh with us. You’ll be glad you did.

A Weekend of Entertainment, Participation and Exhibits

As a young teenager Jeanie found her niche in the simple beauty and artistic style of traditional music from around the world, first performing in the Florida Folk Festival in 1967. Throughout the years she began to write and record her own songs earning a 1999 Grammy nomination for her CD, Roads, in the category of Best New Folk Album. For her longstanding contributions to the folk cultural resources of the state, Jeanie received a Florida Folk Heritage Award in 2001. For the songs she has written and sung in praise and defense of Florida’s natural and cultural heritage, Jeanie was honored with The Fellow Man and Mother Earth Award by The Stetson Kennedy Foundation in 2010. And In recognition of her legacy of performances as a Florida singersongwriter and for her contributions to the Florida Folk Festival, Jeanie was inducted into the 2016 Florida Folk Festival’s Legends and Legacy Hall of Fame. 2026 will mark Jeanie’s 60th year at the Florida Folk Festival.

In 2002, Paco and Celia Fonta (2016 Heritage Award Winners) formed  Siempre Flamenco, a not-for-profit company dedicated to promoting and preserving flamenco music and dance. As Artistic Directors of Siempre Flamenco, they have produced the Festival of Flamenco Song annually since 2006, as well as numerous collaborative shows that explore flamenco’s traditional roots and promote cross cultural understanding. They have participated in the Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program, the Florida Folklife Artist Residency program, and have performed with the FSU Center for Music of the Americas.

JEANIE FITCHEN (Sunday Evening)

SIEMPRE FLAMENCO (Sunday Night)

74th

The Stephen Foster Citizen Support Organization, Inc. (501(c)3) is seeking funds to protect, preserve and restore the historic cultural resources of Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park’ s beautiful Tubular Bell Carillon.

In the summer of 2017, the Carillon Tower sustained electrical damage in a storm. The bells were silent until the Stephen Foster Citizens Support Organization stepped in to fund repair of the bells. The Stephen Foster Citizen Support Organization and the park diligently researched and sought proposals to repair the carillon and to make the bells ring clear again. They found the Verdin Company, who have been creating and repairing bells and carillons for over 170 years.

The 97-bell carillon, one of the largest musical instruments ever produced in the Western Hemisphere, and the world’s largest tubular carillon in number of bells, was installed during the summer of 1958. It was built by the carillon division of J.C. Deagan, Inc., Chicago. More than a year was required by Deagan craftsman to build the huge set of bells, the greatest single manufacturing project in the firm’s 78- year history of originating and producing a variety of percussive musical instruments wellknown throughout the world.

The restoration of this historic landmark will take place in multiple phases to ensure the level of care and attention to detail it deserves as a registered historic site.

Thanks to a Special Category Grant from the Florida Department of State, the Stephen Foster Citizen Support Organization was awarded $300,000 to begin the next phase of this important project. Combined with generous contributions from supporters like you, this funding made it possible to complete Phase One of the carillon restoration.

In late September 2024, one of the three bell sets was fully serviced and repaired. This included the restoration of all 97 tubular bell strikers, relay panels, the control clock, and the roll player. Bringing this treasured musical instrument back to life. With your continued support and tax-deductible donation, we aim to restore the remaining two sets of bells and preserve this iconic piece of our community's heritage.

Donations to the Restoration Fund can be made online at www.StephenFosterCSO.org/Donate or by mail.

Our deepest gratitude,

The Stephen Foster Citizen Support Organization, Inc.

Supporting those who serve Florida State Parks, past and present, by providing financial assistance, cultivating a family atmosphere, and perpetuating a spirit of unity and service.

If you received assistance at the Festival Information area or caught a ride on one of the visitor shuttles, chances are you were helped by a member of the Florida Park Service Ranger Association (FPSRA). Since 1989, the FPSRA has been quietly supporting Florida State Parks and the dedicated people who care for them past and present.

Service projects are a big part of that mission. From repairing park facilities and supporting resource management to preserving the history of the Florida Park Service and lending a hand at events like the Florida Folk Festival, FPSRA members step up wherever they’re needed.

Just as important is their commitment to helping people. Through the James Cook Relief Fund, financial assistance is provided to park staff facing serious hardships, medical emergencies, major losses, and unexpected life challenges. Since 1994, nearly $250,000 has been awarded to almost 300 individuals in times of need.

Your donation makes a real difference. It helps ensure that those who serve Florida’s State Parks are supported when it matters most. Please consider giving today: www.fpsra.org/Donate

Florida Park Service Ranger Association Volunteers at the Florida Folk Festival

Dana Bryan

Gwendolyn Bryan

Robin Boughton

Doug Carter

Theresa Carter

Larry Fooks

Charolette Fooks

Donald Forgione

Rosie Forgione

Beth Hieber

Rick Hieber

Parker Hinson

Rebecca Hinson

Danuta Jacobs

Scott Jacobs

Cliff Joyce

Thea Knott

Falon Laird

Dan Laird

Mark Manning

Clif Maxwell

Joe McGrath

Mary Joe McGrath

Elaine McGrath

Jennifer J. Miller

Nels Parson

Warren Poplin

Joe Sutter

Bobby Toothaker

Gerry Von Ehr

Margaret Von Ehr

Michelle Waterman

Pat Wells

Sandy Vardman

Generations: Heritage

Generations: Heritage

Dom Tartaglia, Ellyn DeMuynck, Zach Moreau, and Julian Duncan

Introduction

The term folklife refers to the living traditions currently practiced and passed down within groups by word of mouth, imitation, or observation. Folklife is a mirror that reflects community values, challenges, and successes. Florida folklife is shaped by the state’s tremendous diversity and growth, creating a rich cultural landscape.

What’s New at Florida Folklife?

Housed within the Division of Arts and Culture in Tallahassee, the Florida Folklife Program has documented, presented, and preserved Florida’s vibrant folklife and traditional culture for more than forty years State Folklorist Dr. Dom Tartaglia, and folklorists Zachary Moreau and Ellyn DeMuynck completed the 2025 Fieldwork Survey, conducting ethnographic research with past winners of the Florida Folk Heritage Award, the most distinguished honor for folk and traditional artists in the state. Apart from the fieldwork survey and last year’s festival, Dom and Zach presided over the nominations of the 2026 Folk Heritage Award, coordinated the 2025 Artist Residency (with Matthew Sabatella & the Ramblin’ String Band), and coordinated the 2025-26 Apprenticeship Program (both teams will perform on the Folklife Stage). Also within the Folklife Program, Julian Duncan is wrapping up his statewide tour of Florida in his capacity as director of the John Leroy Haynes Florida Veterans’ History Program, where he interviewed over 40 of Florida’s veterans this year. You can see Julian at the America 250 Stage (formerly the Pawpaw Stage). Speaking of the America 250 stage, the Folklife Program would also like to welcome Gordon Cortney to the Folklife Stage! A PhD

student at FSU’s College of Music, Gordon will also be working at the America 250 stage. If you look hard around both stages this year, you may find some of Gordon’s classmates from FSU assisting with operations. Also for the first time this year, the artists at the Craft Square will be alums of the Folklife Stage Stop by the cabins to take a closer look at their artforms in action.

Generations: Heritage

Since 1985, the Florida Folk Heritage Awards have recognized outstanding stewardship of Florida’s living traditions. Modeled on the NEA’s National Heritage Fellowships, these awards are annually presented to folk artists and folklife advocates who have made longstanding contributions to the preservation of Florida traditional arts and culture. Florida Folk Heritage Awards honor individuals whose knowledge of and efforts on behalf of Florida folk arts, folklore and folklife have advanced the appreciation and conservation of Florida's dynamic folk cultural heritage.

In 2024-25, the Florida Folklife Program conducted its annual Survey Fieldwork by interviewing over 30 Florida Folk Heritage Award winners across the state. The 2026 Florida Folk Festival features over fifteen Heritage Award winners, which you can see at the Folklife Area, the Craft Square, and other stages. This year, the Folklife Stage brings you twelve heritage award winning acts, two teams from the Apprenticeship Program, and partners from across the festival and across the state

Invited Artists:

Pedro Zepeda (2025 Heritage Award Winner) is a master folk artist and gifted teacher specializing in a variety of traditional Seminole arts. Growing up in a traditional Seminole community, he learned many of these artforms from experienced tribal members such as his grandmother, Tahama Osceola; his brother, Brian Zepeda; and Medicine Man Ingram Billie Jr. Although Pedro has learned and mastered a variety of Seminole craft traditions, he has focused much of his career on the art of dugout canoe carving. Using only an adze and sourcing only Cypress trees that have fallen naturally, Pedro

Generations: Heritage

creates dugout canoes in the traditional Seminole style that have been used for transportation in Florida for centuries. He has spent decades working as a cultural advocate and educator within his community as well as the general public. In 2005, he began working as a demonstrator and educator at the Ah-TahThi-Ki Museum on the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation, later becoming the museum’s Traditional Arts Coordinator. Outside of his work at the museum, he also presents at conferences and other events across the country, educating others on various aspects of Seminole culture. Pedro’s work has been featured in spaces such as the Collier County Museum, History Fort Lauderdale, and the HistoryMiami Museum. He has demonstrated at the Florida Folk Festival, the Ocmuglee Mounds National Historical Park, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, and was 2019 Artist-In-Residence at HistoryMiami

Sikan Afro Cuban Dance Project is a dance company that performs traditional Afro Cuban dance throughout Florida and the United States. Led by 2024 Florida Folk Heritage Award winner Marisol Blanco (2024 Heritage Award winner), the group aims to both entertain and educate by giving audiences “a panoramic vision about the Cuban heritage.” A dancer, teacher, and keeper of Afro-Cuban religious traditions, Marisol Blanco has spent her life teaching and performing Afro-Cuban arts and culture. She started dancing in her native Cuba at the age of five, and by sixteen she was teaching Afro- Cuban dance classes.

Additionally, she learned bata, the syncopated ritual drumming style traditionally only taught to men, and became a member of Obini Bata, Cuba's first female percussion ensemble.

Marisol completed an MFA in Dance at the Cuban Superior Arts Institute, and she is working on her second master’s degree from Jacksonville University. Marisol served as a master artist in the 2013 Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program, which provided her a push forward in her career as a folkloric artist, introducing her to a broader academic audience in her new home of Miami and across the United

For over 75 years, the Ukrainian Dancers of Miami (2024 Heritage Award winners) have preserved and promoted Ukraine’s culture through traditional music and dance performances. Composed of Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Americans, the Ukrainian Dancers of Miami are committed to educating others in the traditions of their ethnic heritage and keeping the legacy of Ukrainian dance alive. Operating out of the Ukrainian-American Club of Miami, they are one of Miami’s oldest continuously

Pedro Zepeda

Sikan Afro Cuban Dance Project (featuring Marisol Blanco, right)

The Ukrainian Dancers of Miami

Generations: Heritage

operated traditional dance troupes. Directed by Donna Maksymowich-Waskiewicz, the ensemble performs dances from several regions of Ukraine, wearing traditional costumes that are emblematic of each region. The troupe also hosts an annual “Ukrainian Montage” performance at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts An ensemble composed of Ukrainian-Americans of all ages, the Ukrainian Dancers of Miami dance troupe is dedicated to the proliferation of traditional arts as well as the vitality of the social lives of Miami’s Ukrainian community.

Harmonic Motion, made up of Myriam Eli (2023 Heritage Award winner) and Joe Zeytoonian (2000 Heritage Award winner), is a South Florida-based musical non-profit who performs and educates on the music, dance, and culture of the Near East. Myriam Eli is a percussionist and dancer who practices and preserves Sephardic and Middle Eastern music and dance. She is a master of the Danse Orientale, a folk-based dance from the Middle East and North Africa characterized by circular motions of the torso and rhythmic movements of the hips. Born in Havana, Cuba, Myriam comes from a multicultural Jewish family who spoke ladino around the home. Joe Zeytoonian’s parents emigrated to the United States from Turkey because of the Armenian genocide His family joined other Armenians living in Watertown, Massachusetts, where Zeytoonian was born in 1946. Joe was raised in a family of musicians his father, uncle and older brother all played the oud The two met in

New York City in the Middle Eastern music scene before eventually moving to South Florida, where they founded Harmonic Motion. The duo have performed for and educated many across Florida and the world, including appearing on MTV, Saturday Night Live, the Latin Grammys, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Today Show, performing with such artists as Shakira and Gloria Estefan. They are alums of the Folklife Program’s Apprenticeship Program (where Myriam taught dance to Corrina Finch) and were Florida Folklife Artists-In-Residence in 2023.

Haiqiong Deng

Haiqiong Deng (2017 Heritage Award winner) was born in Lanzhou, China, where she began studying zheng music at an early age. The zheng is a plucked, 21-stringed instrument with a resonant body. Traditionally, this music was shared orally in small communities, creating regional variations and stylistic differences. More recently, Chinese universities have conducted comprehensive research on various styles of zheng music and invited leading masters to teach in conservatories. Deng went

Harmonic Motion

(Myriam Eli, left and Joe Zeytoonian, right)

Generations: Heritage

on to attend the Shanghai Conservatory of Music where she studied under these master musicians and received a Bachelor of Music degree in zheng performance.

Deng made her professional debut in Beijing in 1997 and has since developed an international reputation as a soloist and chamber musician. Deng has given hundreds of performances at concert halls and universities, worked with various composers, and taught numerous students. She earned a PhD in Music from Florida State University, where she is now the Director of the Chinese Ensemble

Paco and Celia Fonta (2016 Heritage Award Winners) are nationally recognized performers of Spanish flamenco song and dance. Paco Fonta was born in the small town of Jaen, Spain, where he learned flamenco singing and guitar from the town’s traditional musicians. He performed professionally in Madrid before touring Europe with the Kurt Savoy Trio. A native of Chicago, Celia studied flamenco guitar before discovering dance. She went on to pursue Flamenco as well as Spanish Classical and Folkloric dance at Madrid's world-famous

Amor de Dios dance studio. While in Spain, she met Paco and they began their professional career together touring the United States with the Boston Flamenco Ballet. In 1986, they settled in Miami where they continued to work for many well-known dance companies, most notably, Ballet Flamenco La Rosa. Mrs. Fonta participated as a master artist in the Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program in 2000 and later received the Florida Individual Artist Fellowship Award.

In 2002, the Fontas formed Siempre Flamenco, a not-for-profit company dedicated to promoting and preserving flamenco music and dance. As Artistic Directors of Siempre Flamenco, they have produced the Festival of Flamenco Song annually since 2006, as well as numerous collaborative shows that explore flamenco’s traditional roots and promote cross cultural understanding. They have participated in the Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program, the Florida Folklife Artist Residency program, and have performed with the FSU Center for Music of the Americas.

Third generation net-maker Billy Burbank III (2014 Heritage Award winner) was born in 1951 in Fernandina Beach. Mr. Burbank began making nets with his father and grandfather at age nine, learning by observation, custom and practice. In 1972, he joined the family business, Burbank Trawl Makers, Inc., which his grandfather founded in 1915. He was a superb craftsman, but it was his inventiveness that set Mr. Burbank apart from other netmakers. His 1974 net design, the "Mongoose," drastically improved on the standard net that was used by most shrimp fishermen at the time. Consequently, Mr. Burbank was approached by NOAA and the Sea Grant programs of both Florida and Georgia to create a device that would protect turtles from being caught in shrimp trawls. In 2000, he received the NOAA Environmental Hero Award for his success at designing a humane and effective “turtle exclusion device” for the shrimp fishing industry. When the shrimp industry began to decline in the 1980s, the Burbanks transformed their business into Burbank Sports Nets and found national success creating custom sports nets for baseball, hockey, and other sports

Siempre Flamecno (Celia Fonta, left and Paco Fonta, right)

Generations: Heritage

enterprises. He was prominently featured in the 1986 documentary “Fishing All My Days,” created by WUFT and the Florida Folklife Program. Through his innovation and passion for traditional net-making, Mr. Burbank has brought national attention to Florida's First

South Florida-based tassa group and Florida Folk Festival favorites, Romeo’s Tassa Kids, and performs at Indo-Caribbean Hindu weddings and other cultural events and ceremonies in the community. His ancestors brought the tassa tradition from India to Trinidad, and Romeo learned from his father how to make and play these drums. He has passed these skills on to his children and grandchildren, as well as many students all over Florida.

Mike Berg (2006 Heritage Award winner) comes from five generations of duck decoy carvers. His maternal grandfather and great uncle worked as tool-and-die makers in Michigan, but during the Depression, they supported their families by carving decoys for professional hunters and hunting clubs. After earning a degree in sociology, Berg started carving during a visit to his great-uncle. While he developed many of the skills on his own, he credits his grand inspiration and his great technical advice.

Berg creates utilitarian decoys primarily from cork and basswood. Although few

Romeo Ragbir

Generations: Heritage

contemporary carvers use cork, he prefers to use the traditional materials of his forebears. Like them, he also chooses simple tools: carving knives, a plane, files, and rasps. He creates the buoyant body from cork, forms the head from basswood, and carves tails and other embellishments from teak or mahogany. Berg uses rusted spark plugs as anchors for his decoys. He finishes his pieces with oilbased paints to endow them with color and texture. His pieces feature distinctive high eyebrows and shoulders that roll into the trunk of the duck’s body. Since his decoys are meant to be used, he often tests them in water before selling them. “I hunted first,” Berg explained. “That’s probably why it wasn’t difficult for me to carve, because I’d handled so many ducks. I know how they feel. Your eyesight is one thing, but your hands are also your sight. You don’t look at something when you want to know."

Liliane Nérette Louis (2006 Heritage Award winner) grew up in a large family in Port-auPrince, Haiti. When she was a child, her mother used to sit down with the children in the evenings and tell stories, or kont, in Haitian Creole. As she grew older, Louis herself began to tell the stories to her seven younger siblings and then later to her own four children. She begins all her engaging stories with a traditional formula: “Kric, krak ”

Louis left Haiti for New York in 1964 and eventually settled in Miami in 1977. Since the 1980s, she regularly performs Haitian folk tales at festivals, schools, and other events. She has

been honored as master artist in the Apprenticeship Program more than anyone in Florida Folklife Program history She also wrote When Night Falls, Kric! Krak! Haitian Folktales (1999). Additionally, Louis is an extremely accomplished cook, frequently offering Haitian cooking courses through MiamiDade College and other institutions. She is an advocate for Haitian folk medicine in everyday life, especially in the management of chronic diseases, which she implemented alongside her doctor’s course of treatment to beat cancer in 2019.

Wayne Martin (2005 Heritage Award winner) of Blountstown is a traditional musician and folklife advocate. A highly regarded fiddler, he studied with renowned Florida fiddler George Custer. Martin helped establish the Florida State Fiddlers Association and was instrumental in the designation of the Florida Folk Festival’s annual fiddle contest as the official state contest. He has served on the Florida Folklife Council and on the board of directors of the Will McLean Foundation. Martin has been active in historic preservation projects for Calhoun County, including restoring the county courthouse and assisting the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement. He also collects traditional and historical stories about Calhoun County An exceptional storyteller, you may recognize him from MCing the Amphitheater Stage of the Florida Folk Festival every Saturday night, where he is especially known for his annual Roll Call of the Counties tradition.

Liliane Louis (center) with apprentices (from left to right): Fabienne Josaphat, Fernande Forte, Liliane Nérette Louis, Ketsia Theodore-Pharel, Marie Moncy

Wayne Martin

Generations: Heritage

John Lulias

John Lulias (2014 Heritage Award winner) is a second generation Greek-American with ancestral roots in the sponge diving traditions of Kalymnos John Lulias grew up immersed in the culture of Greektown in Tarpon Springs. In 1974, he moved to Philadelphia and joined the dance troupe Terpsichoreans. Inspired by his studies, Mr. Lulias returned to Tarpon Springs in 1979 and formed the renowned Greek dance group Levendia. He has studied in the United States and Greece with many noted dance teachers, which led to repeated recognition by the mayor of the Greek Municipality of Kalymnos for his expertise in folk dances native to the Greek isles. He is also the recipient of many awards, including the 2003 University of Florida Greek Studies Award, the 2004 Lykeion Ellinidon of Krokos, Greece Award, and the 2008 Greek Folk Dance Festival Heritage Hall of Fame Award for Lifetime Achievement. Throughout his career, Mr. Lulias has hosted and directed conferences, curated cultural exhibits, served on the Advisory Council of the Center for Greek Studies at the University of Florida, and led workshops and seminars all over the United States. Since stepping away from Greek dance, he works as the music director at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Tarpon Springs.

John will be teaching Greek folk dance with a live band (comprised of Apprenticeship Program alums Panayotis League and Nekatario Karavokiros) for one night only, Saturday evening at 5pm on the Folklife Stage.

Folklife Apprenticeship Program

The Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program supports the preservation of folklife and traditional arts through one-on-one apprenticeships. These awards fund classes between a master artist and apprentice, recognizing the value of folklife and traditional arts in Florida while enabling participants to work together to maintain and share traditional knowledge, skills, and techniques. At the end of the apprenticeship term, the master artists and apprenticeships take to the folklife stage to demonstrate the finished product from their months of classes.

Apprenticeship Master Ena Casasola, from Homestead, Florida by way of Lima, is a master dancer and choreographer of dances from Peru’s coastal region. Peru has a unique geography, with the Pacific Ocean in the west, the Andes Mountains running down the center of the country, and the Amazon in the east. This creates not only three physical regions, but three distinct cultural regions: La Costa (the Coast), La Sierra (The Mountains) and La Selva (The Jungle). Upon moving to South Florida, Ena joined Sumaj Tusuy, a dance company founded by past Apprenticeship

Ena Casasola and Lucia Morales

Generations: Heritage

Program Master Artist Betty Caloreytti. Sumaj Tusuy specializes in Andean dance of La Sierra, as well as cultural outreach which preserves and promotes indigenous Peruvian cultural heritage across South Florida. Ena was able to join the group as a dancer but also was able to slot in as a choreographer of dances from La Costa. Lucia Morales, one of the principal dancers of the group, has been dancing with Ena for many years and considers her a mentor and family member. Through the Apprenticeship Program, Ena is training Lucia in her specialty of dance and folk culture of La Costa. At the Folklife Stage, you will see a Costal dance choreographed by Ena and Lucia, performed by Sumaj Tusuy.

Master artist Cecilia Bohorquez has traveled the world studying voice and performing classical music. Originally from a village in the Andes, she came to California to study voice While she studied opera and Western classical music, she stayed connected to Peruvian Folk Music. Her father and his family spoke Quechua, and she grew up loving Huayño music from the Peruvian highlands. In California, she joined the Peruvian ensemble Inca, where she was the principal vocalist and Charango player.

Apprentice Liliana Velasquez also moved to South Florida from Peru but has a different backstory. She grew up on the coast in Lima, the capital and largest city in Peru, in an Irish Peruvian enclave, founded by immigrants who came to Peru during the potato famine. She grew up speaking Spanish and English as well

as singing in choirs and musicals, but she never really engaged with Native Peruvian folk culture, like the music of La Sierra. After moving to South Florida, it became clear that so much of her home country’s folk music abroad was indigenous music from the Andes. After meeting Cecilia, they began taking lessons in Huayño music; you can see Cecilia and Liliana performing these indigenous songs from the mountains at the Folklife Stage this year.

Archivists Adam Watson and Chelsea Joslin assist patrons with research requests at the State Archives of Florida. In addition, they collaborate with the State Archives' Florida Memory Program to select and add digitized archival collections to FloridaMemory.com. Here, they present a sampling of Florida Folklife records including film footage clips from previous Florida Folk Festivals and segments from documentaries created by Florida folklorists, as well as photographs and music selections from the Florida Folklife Collection that are held by the State Archives and accessible on FloridaMemory.com.

Ceclia Bohorquez and Liliana Velasquez

Chelsea Joslin and Adam Watson

Generations: Heritage

America 250 Stage

The America 250 Stage celebrates two and a half centuries of American culture, heritage, and traditions Facilitated by the Major John Leroy Haynes Florida Veterans’ History Program, the stage also honors the service of Florida’s veterans throughout the nation’s history.

Band Master Lt. Scott Mythen is a retired U.S. Navy musician and band officer whose career combined performance, leadership, and a deep respect for military musical tradition. Trained as a trumpeter and music educator, he joined the Navy in 1996 and went on to serve in military bands after studying at the Armed Forces School of Music. Early in his naval career, he served as a trumpet player in the Navy Great Lakes, where he performed traditional calls such as attention, parade rest, and adjutant’s call for boot camp graduations, an experience that gave him a lasting appreciation for the history of military signaling traditions. Over the course of his career, Mythen performed, conducted, and directed Navy bands around the world. Scott is the Chief Executive Officer of Veterans Museum in Jacksonville, Florida, where he is devoted to sharing the stories of Veterans and their families. At the Florida Folk Festival, Mythen will present a demonstration of military bugle calls, exploring their historical roots, ceremonial uses, and enduring place in American military life.

19th centuries to life through story, song, and period performance. Appearing in historical dress, they present researched programs that introduce audiences to the sounds of earlier American life. Their repertoire includes Civil War music, Stephen Foster songs, Irish material, Florida history, and other themed presentations developed for festivals, museums, libraries, parks, and schools. Long associated with the Florida Festival and publichistory events, Backintyme’s work connects folklore, music, and historical memory.

The Bartram Trail Society of Florida is a civic organization committed to historic and environmental education, recreation, and related activities along the routes taken by John and William Bartram through Florida and to coordinate a state-wide unified effort toward that end. The Society works to encourage the study, preservation and interpretation of the William Bartram heritage. William Bartram’s exploration of Florida is familiar to people throughout the world, thanks to the publication of his book, Travels, in 1791. His vivid descriptions of his encounters with the indigenous people and nature at its best and worst, his discovery and illustrations of hitherto undocumented tropical flora and fauna, and his eloquent musings made his book a worldwide sensation. William came to Florida in 1765 and again in 1774. His explorations and subsequent writings had a major effect on settlement and subsequent development of Florida.

Band Master Lt. Scott Mythen (center standing)

Backintyme is the living history duo of Frank and Mary Lee Sweet, who bring the 18th and

Backintyme (Mary Lee Sweet, left and Frank Sweet, right)

Generations: Heritage

Annually, the Society coordinates with the City of Palatka to organize the St. Johns River Bartram Frolic, an educational and recreational event that celebrates and commemorates William Bartram’s visit to a Seminole village that was present at the site of present-day Palatka during his visit to Florida in 1774.

Old City Pepper Company reflects the living Minorcan (or Menorcan) foodways of St. Augustine, where the datil pepper has become one of the most recognizable markers of local culinary identity. Drawing on recipes, flavors, and preservation traditions associated with generations of home cooking, the company carries forward a regional food heritage shaped by family practice, community memory, and the long presence of Minorcan culture in Northeast Florida. Old City Pepper Company helps keep that tradition visible and tangible by sharing the cultural and culinary history of St. Augustine.

support, community service, and public programs honoring military service. Based in The Villages area, the group has become a visible presence at regional veterans’ events, where its members have participated in ceremonies through color guard presentations, patriotic music, and public recognition of women’s military contributions. In addition to fostering fellowship among women who have served, Tri-County Women Veterans supports wellness initiatives and community engagement that highlight the experiences, leadership, and continuing service of women veterans in Central Florida. At the Florida Folk Festival, Navy veteran Elizabeth Nolan and Air Force veteran Susan Aungst, both of whom have participated in oral history interviews for Florida Veterans’ History Program, will discuss life in the military, veteran’s advocacy, and community engagement.

Mike Adams (The Bartram Trail Society of Florida) portraying William Bartram

Generations: Heritage

Tri-County Women Veterans logo

Mary Fears is a Florida storyteller, living historian, and retired educator whose work brings African American history to life through researched first-person interpretation and narrative performance. For many years, she has appeared at schools, museums, churches, colleges, and public history events, using storytelling to introduce audiences to the lives, labor, and resilience of African Americans in the 19th century. In addition to her storytelling, she incorporates quilting and textile traditions into her public presentations, highlighting the creative and cultural significance of those practices within Black history. Her presentations have included portrayals and biographical programs centered on figures such as Harriet Tubman, Susie King Taylor, and Phillis Wheatley, and she has also curated educational exhibits on the role of African Americans in the Civil War. A longtime participant in living history and reenactment settings, Fears is known for performances that combine historical substance with compelling public storytelling. At the Florida Folk Festival, she will present a storytelling performance as Elizabeth Keckley, the formerly enslaved seamstress, author, and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band present American roots music as both performance and public history, tracing the many traditions that have shaped the nation’s musical life. Their repertoire connects folk song, spirituals, fiddle tunes, Appalachian music, blues, jazz, country, bluegrass, and early popular song, highlighting the multicultural exchanges that lie at the heart of American music. Led by singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and historian Matthew Sabatella, the group is especially known for programs that pair live performance with historical interpretation, inviting audiences to hear familiar sounds in deeper cultural context. The band has released multiple historically themed recordings in the Ballad of America series, and in 2025 was the Florida Folklife Program’s Artist-in-Residence.

Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band

Suwannee River Fife & Drum is a Floridabased living history music ensemble devoted to

Mary Fears

Generations: Heritage

preserving and sharing the soundscape of early America through traditional fife-and-drum performance. Drawing on repertoire associated with the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and later patriotic and popular traditions, they bring the music of America’s past to life through historically informed performance and period dress. Suwannee River Fife & Drum has appeared at reenactments and history-focused public events in North Florida, including the Tallahassee History Festival and Florida Emancipation Day, as well as numerous Civil War reenactments. Their performances connect audiences with the ceremonial, martial, and vernacular musical traditions that once accompanied everyday life, military service, and public celebration.

Craft Square Artists

This year, the cabins of the Craft Square are host to alums from the Folklife Stage. Come down to the Fiber Arts Cabin, the Pottery Cabin, and the Blacksmith Forge to see three of Florida’s great traditional artists practicing their crafts all festival weekend.

Belén Alverio (Florida Folk Heritage Award winner, 2024) is a master lacemaker in the intricate art of Puerto Rican Mundillo bobbin lace. Using a specially made Mundillo box, Belén makes lace by twisting and crossing thread with numerous bobbins. When Belén and her husband moved to Orlando, she founded Las Damas Del Mundillo Orlando, who has presented

with Belen at the Folklife Stage three times. Various members of Las Damas will be with Belen in the Craft Square, and you can see Belen making lace in the Fiber Arts Cabin.

2023 Folk Heritage Award winner Concepción Poou Coy Tharin is a master weaver in the traditional indigenous Guatemalan style known as pikb’l. Ms. Tharin grew up in a village in the Alta Verapaz region in the central highlands of Guatemala. Now living in Tarpon Springs, Florida, she demonstrates and teaches classes in this traditional Mayan technique. She has demonstrated, lectured, exhibited, or had residencies at numerous institutions across Florida and the United States. She has performed on the Folklife Stage twice and served as a Master Artist in the 2024-25 Folklife Apprenticeship program. Concepción will have her backstrap loom tied to the front porch of the Pottery Cabin in the Craft Square all weekend.

Members of Suwannee River Fife and Drum performing period instruments in eighteenth-century clothing

Las Damas Del Mundillo Orlando (with Belén Alverio, center)

Concepción Poou Coy Tharin

Generations: Heritage

Since 1985, the Florida Artist Blacksmith Association (FABAA) has been dedicated to teaching and preserving blacksmithing as an art in Florida. It’s Northwest (Tallahassee) chapter is led by veteran blacksmith John Pfund. Born in the Keys, he made his way to Tallahassee when he was a welder. He discovered his love of blacksmithing and apprenticed at Mission San Luis. John is the Northwest Chapter president, a founding member of the Gainesville chapter, an artist in residence in Blountsville, a participant at the 2023 Folklife Area at the Florida Folk Festival, and a mentor and teacher to numerous smiths. John will be in the blacksmith workshop of the Craft Square all weekend

Don’t miss this must-visit stop for handcrafted treasures and family fun! Discover a one-of-a-kind collection of homemade goat milk soaps, natural bath products, and stunning custom woodwork and engravings.Bring the whole family and enjoy a hands-on petting zoo experience, plus a lively photobooth. Conveniently located by the gift shop on the way to the kids’ area.

John Pfund

The Sacred Steel Summit: A Vision Realized

What happens when a nearly century-old sacred music tradition meets today’s most dynamic players, innovators, and cultural ambassadors? The answer is the Sacred Steel Summit—an electrifying gathering at the Florida Folklife Festival that brings together masters of the tradition with the next generation of torchbearers.

Conceived and led by Alvin Lee of the Lee Boys, an internationally recognized sacred steel group based in Miami, Florida, the Sacred Steel Summit is both a celebration and a continuation of a powerful musical lineage. Lee’s vision is clear: unite the greatest tradition bearers of pedal steel and lap steel guitar, create space for education and exchange, and introduce new audiences to one of America’s most expressive gospel traditions.

“We’re bringing together the voices of the tradition— past, present, and future—so people can truly experience what Sacred Steel is all about,” says Lee. “This is music that moves the spirit, and it deserves to be seen, heard, and understood on a larger stage.”

As part of the Florida Folklife Festival, the Summit spans three immersive days of programming, including historical presentations, hands-on workshops, and powerful live performances. Attendees can learn directly from the innovators who shaped the sound, explore the technical artistry behind the instrument, and witness unforgettable collaborations between legendary players and rising talent.

A Living Tradition

Sacred steel music is rooted in the worship practices of the House of God (Keith Dominion) and the Church of the Living God (Jewel Dominion), African American Holiness Pentecostal denominations with deep ties to Florida and across the United States.

Beginning in the late 1930s, pioneers such as Willie Eason, Rev. Henry Nelson, and Bishop Lorenzo Harrison transformed the electric steel guitar into a leading voice of worship. Free from the limitations of frets, the steel guitar allows players to bend, sustain, and shape notes with remarkable vocal-like expression—making it uniquely suited to the emotional depth of sacred music.

Over generations, this tradition has evolved into a distinct musical language, passed down through churches, conventions, and community gatherings. Today, Florida

remains a stronghold for Sacred Steel, with more than twenty congregations continuing to nurture and advance the form.

Powering the Summit

Building on decades of Sacred Steel conventions, Alvin Lee has revitalized the concept with a broader, more inclusive vision. The Summit convenes legendary figures, Hall of Fame inductees, and emerging artists who are expanding the reach of Sacred Steel into new musical spaces.

The programming blends education with performance— offering workshops on tunings, technique, and tone, alongside concerts that highlight both traditional and contemporary expressions of the music.

Scholars and cultural historians contribute context, while artists share lived experience, ensuring the tradition is both preserved and actively evolving.

The Summit also highlights Sacred Steel’s influence beyond the church. Past guest artists such as Selwyn Birchwood, Derek Trucks, and Susan Tedeschi have joined the stage, reflecting the genre’s deep impact on blues, rock, and roots music.

The Sacred Steel Summit: A Vision Realized

An Invitation

The Sacred Steel Summit offers a rare opportunity to witness the tradition in its full power—up close, unfiltered, and deeply moving. From intimate workshops to highenergy performances, the experience invites audiences not just to listen, but to feel, learn, and participate.

This is more than a festival segment—it’s a cultural gathering, a teaching space, and a musical revival.

Join us at the Sacred Steel Summit and experience a sound that lifts the spirit, moves the body, and carries a legacy forward.

The Stephen Foster Citizen Support Organization (CSO) has been dedicated to the advancement of the park and its activities since 1988. The CSO helps develop, plan, promote and present quality events at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park for the education and enjoyment of our citizens and visitors to the State of Florida. In addition, the CSO provides an invaluable service by seeking funds for promotion and to purchase additional equipment, build new facilities, enhance educational programming and to assist and support the operation of this park The Stephen Foster CSO is a 501(c)(3) not for profit organization.

by the

Florida State Park Annual Pass after each 500 hours of volunteer service

Legends and Legacies

The Bullard Family of White Springs have long been champions of the Stephen Foster Center and the Florida Folk Festival. Even before the Florida Folk Festival, Wade Bullard, the patriarch of the family, was invited in 1936, as a young man to see the recently purchased property that is now known as the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park. Wade, along with others from the community, after seeing the property decided to put up a temporary, small wooden stage around where the old marble stage sits today for the school children to perform. In the 1950s Wade Bullard was invited by Mr. Foster Barnes, curator of the Stephen Foster Memorial, as the very first person to see the newly completed museum before it officially opened.

The first Florida Folk Festival was held in May, 1953. Three years later Wade married Mary LouTaylor. Their two boys, Johnny and Jerry Lawrence, came along soon after. The story is told that in 1958 when Jeanie Montgomery played for the very first time on the new carillon tower tubular bells the very first song played was Suwannee River but the second song was Happy Birthday in recognition of Johnny’s second birthday. The family was gathered in town and the bells were heard all through White Springs.

Johnny, the oldest son, recollects that in 1968 (when he was in fifth grade) that he and his brother, who was only four at the time, made their debut at the festival on the old marble stage. They square danced and helped sell programs along with the other local school children.

Mary Lou worked tirelessly behind the scenes, not only helping with the festival but assisting with the many receptions, luncheons and refreshments that were served to countless visiting dignitaries during the early days and formative years of the event. She also participated along with other women from the community, helping sell food to feed the hungry festival goers. One year Wade brought over fresh corn for the ladies to cook and that was served from one of the old wooden vendor stalls at the old marble stage. When the strawberries were plentiful she made strawberry shortcakes to sell as well.

During these early days of the folk festival Mary Lou worked tirelessly with Barbara Beauchamp as they had a mutual admiration for each other. Their goals were both the same in that they wanted to see the park succeed. Mary Lou has served numerous batches of fried chicken, cooked fresh vegetables, and desserts with her legendary pecan pies and her dusted with powdered sugar wedding cookies being favorites. Over the years the Bullard family has donated many meals and floral arrangements to the park.

The Bullard brothers first began performing at the festival in the mid-70s when Johnny was 16 and Jerry Lawrence was 10 years old. Jerry Lawrence played the guitar, and Johnny sang gospel songs, like On Jerico Road and The Orphans Prayer that the family grew up with, along with other tunes from

community gatherings. Their father, Wade, enjoyed all the performers at the festival. His son, Johnny remembers him talking about Curly Dekle, a renowned whip cracker and their trading stories and Curly teaching him how to crack the whip. Johnny and Jerry Lawrence’s mother, Mary Lou, could always be found serving meals to performers on the festival grounds at the top of hill from the amphitheater or later in Nelly Bly’s kitchen. There was always a Bullard family presence at the festival either through performance or hospitality but often both.

Today, the Bullard Brothers are recognized as long-time performers of the Florida Folk Festival with their Southern gospel, bluegrass and Florida folk tunes. Bullard Brothers and Friends have been performing for over 50 years now. Jerry Lawrence began composing his Florida songs around 2000. His first composition, “It’s Good to See You Back Again My Friend” along with his popular, “Land of Flowers” soon became a favorite for their audiences. Their style has been described as “high-energy, authentic Florida folk and gospel with other members of the group playing the upright bass and fiddle.”

The Bullard Family legacy is one of continued support for their beloved park and the festival. Their generous hospitality over the years and musical performances continue through their sons, Johnny and Jerry Lawrence Bullard. This lifetime achievement award recognizes the Bullard Family devotion to their community and the Florida Folk Festival.

Legends and Legacies

The Legends and Legacies award is a lifetime achievement honor created to recognize individuals who have been instrumental to the success and spirit of the Florida Folk Festival. Developed by the Stephen Foster Citizen Support Organization (CSO), this initiative highlights the festival’s rich history and celebrates the many people who have contributed to its legacy as being the longest continuously running folk festival in the country.

Award recipients are commemorated in a special area near the bell tower, where their recognition is proudly displayed. Each year, the CSO strives to welcome new honorees during the festival. If you would like to nominate someone for future recognition, please contact the park office at (386) 397-7009.

Florida Folk Festival Legends and Legacies Recipients:

2014

• Barbara Beauchamp

• Cousin Thelma Boltin

• Sara Gertrude Knott

• Lillian Saunders

• Nancy Morgan

• Ruby Shaw

2016

• J. L. McMullen

• Jeanie Fitchen

2017

• James Billie

• Frank Thomas

• Grant and Gail Simons

2018

• Dale Crider

• Marie Norris

• Aunt Peggy and Jay Smith

2019

• Dr. Peggy A. Bulger

2022

• Bobby Hicks

• JU Lee

• Whitey Markle

• Merri McKenzie 2023

• Lloyd Baldwin

• Wayne Martin

2024

• The Mackley Family

• Gamble Rogers

2026

• The Bullard Family

The FLORIDA FOLK FESTIVAL is grateful to be assisted by The Florida Conservation Corps (FLCC) Members & Staff!

FLCC Mission: To develop natural and cultural resource leaders by connecting them to areas of critical need in conservation, preservation, Interpretation, and resource based recreation.

What is the FLCC?

The Florida Conservation Corps (FLCC) is a natural resource program managed by the Department of Environmental Protection, and operates within the Florida Park Service. Our members meet critical needs in Florida State Parks and are offered hands-on service learning opportunities designed to develop hem into leaders of natural resource management, volunteer recruitment, outreach, and trail management.

Kylie Taber

Megan Betancourt

Bryce Tuttle

Sydney Lowman

Jaylin Rasumoff

Meredith Campbell

Jacob Askin

Rose Behrens

Ashlyn Feit

Courtney Smith

Isabella Gallos

Angelique Morgan

Ruarai Mckenna

Shazad Baig

Rachelle Sanford

Ariel Purl

Carl Gillis

Sam Atkinson Nicolls

Amir Townsend

Chris Cox

Kelli Fowler

FLCC Program Staff:

Adriana Betancourt

Lauren Natwick

Autumn White

Brittnie Young

Abby Ledford

Florida's Finest Crafters

Amphitheater and Old Marble Crafts showcase the great variety of Florida’s artists and natural resources. Inspired or handed down by traditional ways of the past, or styled with the designs of studio art, Florida’s craftsmen pursue the creative expression of their history and culture.

Handcrafted furniture, detailed reproductions of Native American shell carvings, rich Hungarian embroidery and handmade musical instruments are sold alongside fine jewelry, functional studio pottery, and handwoven apparel.

Craftsmen demonstrate their skills throughout the craft areas, so take a leisurely stroll and visit with the artists whose work helps to support the Florida Folk Festival.

All craft vendors contribute a percentage of their sales to the festival. When you patronize these artists, you are supporting both the creativity of Florida crafts and the continuation of the Florida Folk Festival.

Agnes Czarnecki, Aggie’s Treasures, features handmade quilts and a variety of quilted items.

Antonio Falla, Antonio Designs, creates handmade jewelry using silver and semi-precious stones.

Wanda & Vidal Pedrosa Torres, ArteBorikua Artesanias (Borikua Handcraft), offer musical instruments crafted from gourds and wood, prints of original paintings, bilingual children’s books, and handcrafted items made from wood and corn husks.

Brandi Hillis, Barn to Bath Handmade tallow-based skincare products including soaps, lotions, face creams, magnesium cream, lip balm, body butter, sugar scrubs, eczema relief, natural cleaning products, bug repellent, sprays, and loofahs all made with tallow and raw cow and goat milk sourced and rendered from our family farm.

Lisa Paulger, Blue Moon Bazaar, Pine Needle Baskets, Mixed Media, Collage and String Art. The remaining products sold include Antique Brooches, Jewelry and Collectables, Handwoven textiles and a few books.

Matt Brabham, Brabham Pottery, produces functional, wheelthrown pottery with decorative clay accents.

Lita Swindle, Claytor & Swindle, demonstrates spinning and rag rug weaving using a rigid heddle loom; offers handmade rag rugs, cloth, and fiber items.

Greg Nason, Earthwares, creates scrollsawn woodwork including pictures, earrings, boxes, and other items using a foot-powered antique scroll saw; also makes folk instruments from cigar boxes, tins, and found objects.

Harriett Heywood, Earthwares, offers handmade aprons, hats, bags, clothing, and kitchen items.

Catherine Locklear, Half Pint Dairies, Homemade goat milk soaps and bath products, custom woodwork and engravings, and a petting zoo experience with a photo booth.

Khadijah Cole, Julia’s Natural Shop, sells plants, crystals, handmade crystal jewelry, sage, and incense.

Stacey Robinson, Just the Ticket, offers cowhide handbags, t-shirts, children’s clothing, and western-style jewelry.

Macie Jordan, Living Land Farms of Florida, sells CBD, hemp-based wellness products, and hemp seltzers.

Kathryn Basham, Medicine Song Crafts, creates handmade items from natural and recycled materials such as shells, fossils, coral, pine needles, grapevine, and bamboo.

Florida's Finest Crafters

Melinda Swindle, Minna’s, woven and crochet shawls scarfs, casseroles holder, potholder bowls l, hanging dish towels and apron.

Gloria Lee, Mr. Ernest M. Lee Gallery showcases folk art by Ernest Lee, including original paintings, prints, and notecards.

Amy Edge, OgZ Dezigns, offers handmade crystal and magnetic jewelry, suncatchers, sage, and crystals.

Angelica Tilton, Possum and Palmetto, creates handmade natural watercolor sets and artwork inspired by Florida’s plants, animals, and mushrooms.

Patricia Lynne Hutchins, Suwannee Songs Designs, designs handcrafted jewelry using silk knotting, metal forging, soldering, and wirework; also publishes historical fiction books.

Jane McDonald, TieDye by JEM, Tie Dyed apparel and accessories.

Gregory Copeland, Tirava, offers handcrafted shoes made using traditional fabrics from the Wayuu and Kuna tribes of Colombia.

Kortney Stewart, Thomas Honey, has raw honey, craft honey blends and beeswax.

Eric Larson, Winter Park Soap, produces handmade organic skincare products, including soaps, lotions, and lip balms. s

bluegrass, rock

24/7. Special programing includes music news about live events and artists. T"he Americana Revolution" is heard across all 50 states, Mexico and the UK from Jacksonville, Fla.

Google Play d anytime

Marketplace Highlights

Marketplace brings the artistry of the world to the Florida Folk Festival. In some instances, the vendors are themselves both the importers and the makers of traditional crafts. They may be new settlers whose booths help to support traditional artists in Guatemala or importers of exquisite beads from around the world.

Whether as book and music publishers or    the makers of instruments or accessories     for musicians, marketplace vendors keep   the natural and cultural history of Florida alive, and they showcase the state’s cultural connections with the world.

Lisa Grolla, Bronze Hibiscus Candles, selling candles, melts, sugar scrubs, bath bombs, car diffusers, carpet fresheners.

Murat Secim, Cork Culture, cork bags, wallets and accessories.

Tom Levine, Defiant Worm, a Florida author, known through Florida Sportsman Magazine and my humorous Florida books which include novels and nonfiction story collections.

Sarah “Echo” Steiner, Greater Goods Trading Company, jewelry using gemstones, silver, copper, and glass, along with handcrafted musical instruments. Local artwork, woodwork, clothing, Floridiana, and world goods.

Mike Weeks, John M. Weeks, recently wrote a book of poetry called Wiregrass Moon which focuses on wildlife, plants, and environment. All the poems were written in Northeast and North-central Florida.

Hunter Turner, Old Florida Vibes, drawn illustrations printed on metal, canvas, t-shirts, hats, and candles.

Erica DuPaul, Pipe Dream Tie Dye Shop – Produces tie-dyed clothing and tapestries using a variety of techniques.

Heidi Wiegert, Sacred Goddess Toe Rings, Custom fit toe rings, barefoot sandals, waist beads and chains, hand and foot chains.

Leslie Skeen, Salt and Light Herbal Apothecary, tinctures, teas and home remedies. Self-care products such as tallow lotion, face toner and bath products. Home collection includes laundry detergent fabric softener and cleaners. We have a variety of tinctures for wellness and immunity; as well as first aid products.

Jaclyn Trenteseaux, The Little Lantern Press, will be offering a selection of original, self-authored books.

Jessica Glancy, The Spark Collective, will be selling permanent jewelry.

Florida’s Handmade Instrument Makers

At the Luthier Exhibit in the Museum, you’ll meet some of the state’s makers of handcrafted instruments who use both raw materials and commercially available supplies to construct one-ofa-kind guitars, banjos, dulcimers and other musical instruments.

John Catches, Catches Guitars: handcrafted wood/ acoustic stringed musical instruments; gourd banjos, open back banjos, acoustic guitars

Willow Cartier-Berrean, sells Folk fiddles, Gourd Banjos, Standard Five String Banjos, Banjo Ukuleles.

Dave Larsen, Odd Dave, Self-taught builder specializing in handcrafted dulcimers and other acoustic instruments.

Keeping Seminole Heritage

You’ll be greeted at the Seminole Family Camp with a traditional Che-han-tah-mo? (How are you?) and a welcome to the Ee-toh-lit-kee (Seminole Family Camp) and the Cheekee-chobee (Big Chickee) Performance Stage. Thank you to the Seminole Tribe of Florida for their generous contribution to construct a much larger Seminole Family Camp now located near the Craft Square.

In 1771, John Stuart, an agent of the British Government, was the first to use the term in writing, when he referred to the Creeks of East Florida as Seminoles. Soon, the name was used to indicate all of Florida’s Native American people.

Today, an estimated 2,700 Seminole and Miccosukee people live in Florida. The Seminole Tribe of Florida has about 2,200 members, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida Indians has about 500 members. Some still build chickees and wear patchwork clothing derived from traditional styles.

At the Florida Folk Festival, you’ll see wonderful examples of traditional Seminole crafts, including:

Nancy Shore and Onnie Osceola will demonstrate Patchwork Sewing - The women artisans of the Seminole adapt textile arts to suit traditional functions and changing needs. Patchwork is the process of sewing pieces of cloth into rows of designs, joined to make garments. Seminole women use the sewing machine to evoke fire, rain or storm in traditional patterns.

Beadwork - Contemporary Seminole beadwork necklaces, belts and sashes use nylon thread, an odd (never even) number of beads and a ten-inch loom. D’anna Osceola will explain why.

The Seminole unique dollmaking tradition will be demonstrated by Janelle Osceola Lietner. The dolls are made of palmetto fibers, hand sewn to create the

head and body, and dressed in traditional Seminole costumes.

Norman “Skeeter” Bowers is a Chickee Builder. “Chickee” is the word Seminoles use for “house.” The first Seminoles to live in North Florida are known to have constructed log cabin-type homes, some two stories tall, with sleeping quarters upstairs. The chickee style of architecture - palmetto thatch over a cypress log frame - was born during the early 1800s when Seminole Indians, pursued by U.S. troops, needed fast, disposable shelter while on the run. Though indigenous peoples in other parts of North and South America have developed similar dwellings, it is generally agreed that the Seminole Indian technique and product are far superior.

So popular, efficient and functional is the chickee that such Seminole architecture can be seen all over South Florida. The chickee structure should last about ten years and needs to be re-thatched every five years. Several Seminole Tribal members make a living building custom chickees for both commercial and private interests.

Traditional Seminole Foods - Food sources in Seminole folklore include game meat such as deer, turtle and fish, and vegetables such as corn, beans, sweet potatoes and squash. Of these, corn is the most meaningful and frequently used. One product is sofkee, a cold beverage made of corn by combining hominy meal (hulled corn) with boiling water then allowing the drink to cool. In Seminole frybread, a batter mixture is fried in hot grease in a flat-bottomed pot over an open fire.   Charlotte Gopher Burgess, Jennifer Billie Chadwick, Mollie Jolly, Catinna King, Dalmonnia King, and Leoma Taylor will demonstrate Seminole cooking traditions.

Amphitheater

5:30 PM

5:45 PM Opening Ceremonies

Opening/Fiddle Contest Winners

6:00 PM Suwannee River Fife and Drum Elder Charlot & the Akoustiks Banjo Contest Winners/Folkartist Memorial

6:30 PM The Fox Brothers Karibbean Groove Siempre Flamenco

7:15 PM Uncle Mosie

8:00 PM The Krickets

Papaloko & Loray Mistik Uncle AL Sacred Steel All Star Jam

Lili Forbes and the Funky Taters Frankie J & The Chicken Parade

8:45 PM Ben Prestage Folk Heritage Award Winners Recognition The Firewater Tent Revival

9:30 PM Walter Parks The Lee Boys (9:15) The Lubben Brothers

10:15 PM The Ben Flournoy Trio

Melody Trucks and the Fitzkee Brothers Festival Finale with Jeanie Fitchen and Friends

10:00 AM

Military Bugle Calls Demonstration Scott Mythen

America 250 Stage

10:30 AM Datil Peppers Foodways Old City Pepper Company

Military Bugle Calls Demonstration Scott Mythen

Military Bugle Calls Demonstration Scott Mythen

Old Time Music and Storytelling Back-in-Tyme Old Time Music and Storytelling Back-in-Tyme

11:00 AM

A Celebration of America’s Music: From Plymouth Rock to Rock & Roll

Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band

11:30 AM

12:00 PM

12:30 PM

Veterans Storytelling Tri-County Women Veterans

Storytelling as Elizabeth Keckley Mary Fears

Living History of the Bartram Trail

Living History of the Bartram Trail

Bartram Trail Society of Florida

Datil Peppers Foodways Old City Pepper Company

Veterans Storytelling Tri-County Women Veterans

Storytelling as Elizabeth Keckley Mary Fears

Living History of the Bartram Trail Bartram Trail Society of Florida

Datil Peppers Foodways Old City Pepper Company

Veterans Storytelling Tri-County Women Veterans

Storytelling as Elizabeth Keckley Mary Fears

1:00 PM

Bartram Trail Society of Florida

1:30 PM

2:00 PM

Sounds of Liberty: 250 Years of American Music

Suwannee River Fife & Drum

250 Years of American History in Song- Part 1

Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band

250 Years of American History in Song- Part 2

Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band

Sounds of Liberty: 250 Years of American Music

Suwannee River Fife & Drum

Sounds of Liberty: 250 Years of American Music

Suwannee River Fife & Drum

BEER TENT JAMS

TellemTall tales are a blend of fact and fiction of growing up in Florida in the mid fifties to present. Explosions, fire, giant alligators, pirate ghosts, a little time travel and a slightly crazy science teacher make for some great stories.

TellemTall is back - With A Set List ? Fri: 2:30 River Gazebo Sat: 2:30 Seminole Sat: 4:00 Workshop With Deborah Lyn Thompson Sun: 12:30 Seminole Camp

TellemTall tales are a blend of fact and fiction of growing up in Florida in the mid fifties to present. Explosions, fire, giant alligators, pirate ghosts, a little time travel and a slightly crazy science teacher make for some great stories.

way. TellemTall is back - With A Set List ? Fri: 2:30 River Gazebo Sat: 2:30 Seminole Sat: 4:00 Workshop With Deborah Lyn Thompson Sun: 12:30 Seminole Camp

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TellemTall is back - With A Set List ? Fri: 2:30 River Gazebo Sat: 2:30 Seminole Sat: 4:00 Workshop With Deborah Lyn Thompson Sun: 12:30 Seminole Camp

TellemTall tales are a blend of fact and fiction of growing up in Florida in the mid fifties to present. Explosions, fire, giant alligators, pirate ghosts, a little time travel and a slightly crazy science teacher make for some great stories.

10:00 AM

Florida Old-Time Music Workshops

Beginning Old Time Banjo with Clay Black

Beginning Old Time Banjo with Clay Black

Beginning Old Time Banjo with Clay Black

11:00 AM Old Time Jam with Clay Black

12:00 PM

1:00 PM

Beginning Fiddle with Sharon Hartmann & Deb Gilman

Old Time Jam in Key of C with Jenny James, Ron Gilbert, Barbara Sutton and Edie Murphy

Old Time Moderate Speed Jam with Chris Collins & Phil Pittenger

Old Time Moderate Speed Jam with Sharon Hartmann

2:00 PM

3:00 PM

Fiddle Workshop: Florida Fiddle Tunes with Lloyd Baldwin

Fiddle Harmonies Workshop with Kathie Aagaard & Deb Gilman

Fiddle Workshop: Cross Tuning with Anna Strickland

4:00 PM

Old Time Quick Jam with Bobby Lolley

Old Time Moderate Speed Jam in Key of G with Deb Gilman & Dave Townsend

Playing & Calling a Contra Dance with Wendy Graham, Kathie Aagaard, Bill Dudley & Andy Kane

Old Time Moderate Speed Jam with Anna Strickland

Playing Waltzes with Deb Gilman, Dave Townsend & Others

Old Time Moderate to Fast Jam with Kay Van Treese

Old Time Quick Jam with Bob Murphy & Greg Allen

Old Time Singing Circle with Kellie Allen & Pete Peterson

Old Time Singing Circle with Kellie Allen & Pete Peterson

Old Time Singing Circle with Kellie Allen & Pete Peterson

FOLKLIFE

Folk Festival Friday May 22 Saturday May 23

10:00 AM Chinese Guzheng Haiqiong Deng

10:30 AM Duck Decoy Carving Mike Berg

11:00 AM Shrimp Net Making Billy Burbank III

11:30 AM Flamenco Siempre Flamenco

12:00 PM

Middle Eastern Music and Dance Harmonic Motion

12:30 PM Haitian Foodways and Storytelling Liliane Louis

1:00 PM

1:30 PM

Seminole Dugout Canoes Pedro Zepeda

Afrocuban Folk Dance Sikan Afrocuban Dance Project

Sunday May 24

Seminole Dugout Canoes Pedro Zepeda

Ukrainian Folk Dance The Ukrainian Dancers of Miami

Trinidadian Tasa Drums Romeo Ragbir Flamenco Siempre Flamenco

Duck Decoy Carving Mike Berg

Peruvian Folk Song Apprenticeship Team Cecilia Bohorquez and Liliana Velasquez

Haitian Foodways and Storytelling Liliane Louis

American Fiddle Wayne Martin Flamenco Siempre Flamenco

Florida Folk Festival Archives Florida Memory

2:00 PM Sacred Steel Showcase Dante Harmon

2:30 PM Peruvian Dance Apprenticeship Team Sumaj Tusuy Dance Company

3:00 PM Peruvian Folk Song Apprenticeship Team Cecilia Bohorquez and Liliana Velasquez

3:30 PM Seminole Dugout Canoes Pedro Zepeda

4:00 PM Ukrainian Folk Dance The Ukrainian Dancers of Miami

4:30 PM Afrocuban Folk Dance Sikan Afrocuban Dance Project

5:00 PM

10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Middle Eastern Music and Dance Harmonic Motion

Florida Folk Festival Archives Florida Memory

Ukrainian Folk Dance The Ukrainian Dancers of Miami

American Fiddle Wayne Martin

Chinese Guzheng Haiqiong Deng

Shrimp Net Making Billy Burbank III

Peruvian Dance Apprenticeship Team Sumaj Tusuy Dance Company

Greek Folk Dance Showcase John Lulias

Middle Eastern Music and Dance Harmonic Motion

Peruvian Dance Apprenticeship Team Sumaj Tusuy Dance Company

Haitian Foodways and Storytelling Liliane Louis

Afrocuban Folk Dance Sikan Afrocuban Dance Project

Trinidadian Tasa Drums Romeo Ragbir

Peruvian Folk Song Apprenticeship Team Cecilia Bohorquez and Liliana Velasquez

Florida Folk Festival Archives Florida Memory

Shrimp Net Making Billy Burbank III

American Fiddle Wayne Martin

Duck Decoy Carving Mike Berg

Chinese Guzheng Haiqiong Deng

Folklife Activities & Exhibitions 10am-5pm

Duck Decoy Carving, Indo Trinidadian Drums, Shrimp Net Making, Haitian Foodways, Peruvian Dance and Culture, Ukrainian Dance and Culture, Flamenco Instruments, Afrocuban Dance and Culture, Seminole Dugout Canoe

Gamble Rogers Stage

10:00 AM Siempro Flamenco - Paco & Celia Fonta Ray Cerbone Americana And More

10:30 AM Harmonic Motion Middle Eastern Music & Dance The New 76ers

11:00 AMThe Carr Sisters Rural Route 2

11:30 AMStockholm South Taildraggers Ultralight

12:00 PM Jerry Mincey with Bob Bronar and Jim Rigel Brett Wellman & "Dangrous" Dave Messler

Florida State Fiddle Contest conducted by The Florida State Fiddlers Association

12:30 PM Corey Hall & The Misplaced Ramblers Del Suggs and Friends

1:00 PMSarah McCulloch

1:30 PM Lucky Mud

2:00 PMTallahassee Youth Jam

2:30 PMPatrick Sampson

3:00 PMThe Deux Francois Band

3:30 PMHaiqiong Deng

4:00 PM Musika Terrae/ Cecilia Bohorquez The New Strangers

4:30 PMThe Lubben Brothers Dim Lights

5:00 PM The Currys

Banjo Contest Hosted by the Florida Banjo Society

Lee Hunter & The Gatherers Trio Dav!d Reed

5:30 PM Little Sister All Boxed Up

Gazebo

10:00 AMBullard Brothers & FriendsBullard Brothers & Friends Bullard Brothers and Friends

10:30 AM Chuck Hardwicke and The Hart Line Emmett Carlisle Grant Livingston

11:00 AMThe Florida Quest Jerry Mincey with Bob Bronar and Jim Rigel Chuck Hardwicke and The Hart Line

11:30 AMAlivia and Victoria The Shytunas The Dunehoppers

12:00 PMJune Bunch Patchwork Trio Alivia & Victoria

12:30 PMThe Traveling NewberriesPurple Hayseeds Sam Hankinson

1:00 PMKim LeCouteur Rachel Grubb Sarah McCulloch

1:30 PMJeanie FitchenHadley Parrish-CottonDave Pucik

2:00 PMJoe Mark Dave Pucik Walter Parks

2:30 PMTellemTall The Wire Birds Ben Prestage

3:00 PMBob Patterson Lucky MudThe White Knuckle Flyers

3:30 PMLarry Mangum Paddy League Jane Fallon

4:00 PMThe White Knuckle FlyersChris Kahl

4:30 PM

5:00 PM

Del Suggs & Grant Livingston

Jeanie Fitchen and Chris Kahl

10:00 AM

Heritage & Dance Stage

Friday May 22 Saturday May 23

Hot Pepper Steppers with Runaway Biscuits

10:30 AM Cross Creek Cloggers

11:00 AM Suwannee Spirit Kids Music Camp Instructors

11:30 AM Bing Futch

12:00 PM The Dunehoppers

Hot Pepper Steppers with the Runaway Biscuits

Paco and Celia Fonta Siempre Flamenco

Sunday May 24

Harmonic Motion Middle Eastern Music and Dance

Hot Pepper Steppers with Runaway Biscuits

Cross Creek Cloggers Musical Traditions

Raymi Dance School Cross Creek Cloggers

Harmonic Motion Middle Eastern Music and Dance Romeo's Tassa Kidz

12:30 PM Stockholm South Karibbean Groove

1:00 PM

Clogging and Old Time dance Workshop Hot Pepper Steppers with Runaway Biscuits

Scandinavian dance workshop with Stockholm South Raymi Dance School

1:30 PM Sinkhole Serenaders Wild Shiners

2:00 PM Mean Mary Musical Traditions

2:30 PM Frankie J & the Chicken Parade

3:00 PM Jenny and the Stray Dogs

Bomba Puertorriqueña Workshop with The 813 P.R.oject

"PERU MANTA" Workshop with Raymi Dance School

Flatfooting Workshop with Drew Thomas and Bunny Bread Bandits

Elder Charlot & The Akoustiks

3:30 PM The Firewater Tent Revival Dodo Awoko Dodo Awoko

4:00 PM Elder Charlot & The Akoustiks

4:30 PM Karibbean Groove

6:00 PM

8:00 PM

Contra Dance with Lloyd Baldwin and Friends, Tom Greene Calling

Contra Dance with Bunny Bread Bandits, Andy Kane, calling

10:00 PM Papaloko & Loray Mistik Haitian Pop Voodoo Dance

Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band The Lee Boys

Romeo's Tassa Kidz Lili Forbes & the Funky Taters

CLOSED TO RESET

Beginners Contra Dance Workshop and Dance with Vicki Morrison and Joe Bone

Contra Dance with Jenny & the Stray Dogs, Tom Greene Calling

Techno/Pop Contra Dance with DJ RXN and Drew Thomas calling

Beginners Contra Dance Workshop and Dance with Vicki Morrison and Jenny and the Stray Dogs

Contra Dance with The Coral Rif Band, Andy Kane calling

Techno/Pop Contra Dance with DJ RXN and Drew Thomas calling

JAM TENT

10:00 AM OPEN JAM OPEN JAM

Humorous and Ironic Songs/Highway Songs with Julian Cherkinsy Band

11:00 AM Celtic Jam led by Frances Pisacane Train Songs with Joey Kerr Tallahassee Youth Jam

12:00 PM OPEN JAM

1:00 PM

Florida Songs Jam with Emmett Carlisle

2:00 PM OPEN JAM

Shape-note social: singing songs set in 4 or 7 shapes, for 2-4 voice parts, from any source

Suwannee Spirit Kids Music Camp Instructors

Florida River Songs with Chuck Hardwicke OPEN JAM

Packet Rats Shanties of Florida

3:00 PM

Carol Mahler: Story Swap

4:00 PM OPEN JAM

Florida Fiddle Tunes with Lloyd Baldwin and Friends

Swampy Blues Jam with Joe & Mike Reina Folk Song Jam with Patchwork Trio

Fast Celtic Jam, Celtic Fiddle Workshop with The Deux Francois Band

Singing Jam with Purple Hayseeds

10:00 AM

10:30 AM

11:00 AM

Jessica's Place (Kid's Area)

Kids Crafts and Activities

Suwannee Spirit Kids Music Camp Instructors

La Casita Hispaniola

Unusual Old Time Instruments with Bob Murphy & Greg Allen Sing 'N' Dance with Bing!Kids Crafts and Activities

11:30 AM

Kids Open Mic, Crafts, and Activities

Harmonica Workshop with Joan Alderman and Rural Route 2 (Harmonica's Provided)

12:00 PM

12:30 PM

1:00 PM

1:30 PM

2:00 PM

Kid's Dance with Andy Kane

Suwannee Spirit Kids Music Camp Instructors

Kids Open Mic, Crafts, and Activities

Traditional African Instruments and Storytelling with Dodo Awoko

The 813 P.R.oject Kids Bomba

2:30 PM

3:00 PM

Kids Open Mic, Crafts, and Activities

Kids Open Mic, Crafts, and Activities

Kids Open Mic, Crafts, and Activities

Turtles and Gators and Spoonbills, Oh My! With Chris Kastle

Romeo's Tassa Kidz The Drum Circle Workshop

3:30 PM Kids Crafts and Activities

4:00 PM 4:30 PM

Wawakuna Raymi Dance School

Fun Circle and Square Dance Workshop with Hot Pepper Steppers and Runaway Biscuits

Kazoo Jam for Kids (Kazoos provided)

Kids Open Mic, Crafts, and Activities

Old Marble Stage

Friday May 22 Saturday May 23

Sunday May 24

10:00 AM Rural Route 2 Grant Livingston Larry Mangum

10:30 AM Crucial Eddy Cotton and the Uncanny Valley Authority All Boxed Up Lee Hunter & The Gatherers Trio

11:00 AM Rachel Grubb Frank Lindamood Emmett Carlisle

11:30 AM Brett Wellman & "Dangrous" Dave Messler Uncle Mosie Ric J. Edmiston

12:00 PM Lloyd Baldwin & Friends Sarah McCulloch Cortadito

12:30 PM Joe Bone Jeanie Fitchen Chelsea Saddler

1:00 PM Julian/Cherkinsky Band Ben Prestage The Currys

1:30 PM The Wire Birds The White Knuckle Flyers The New Strangers

2:00 PM Lee Hunter & The Gatherers Trio Sinkhole Serenaders Dim Lights

2:30 PM Paddy League Walter Parks Stockholm South

3:00 PM Del Suggs Frankie J and the Chicken Parade Jerry Mincey with Bob Bronar and Jim Rigel

3:30 PM The New 76ers The Lubben Brothers In Good Company

4:00 PM Wild Shiners The Firewater Tent Revival Joe Mark

4:30 PM The Lee Boys Bing Futch Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band

5:00 PM Lili Forbes & the Funky Taters Patrick Sampson

5:30 PM The Ben Flournoy Trio The Carr Sisters

6:00 PM Cortadito Mean Mary

Sacred Steel Summit

11:00 AM

12:00 PM

12:30 PM 1:00 PM 1:15 PM 1:30 PM

Welcome, Summit Mission and Living Legends Performance

Sacred Steel Workshop: Sound System Fundamentals for Performing with Carlton Campbell

Sacred Steel Workshop: 2 Left Hands with Anthony Fox and David Fonville

Sacred Steel Workshop: Singing Guitar with Chuck Campbell

2:00 PM In Memorium with Alvin Lee

2:30 PM 3:30 PM 4:00 PM

2:45 PM

4:30 PM

Young Guns

Sacred Steel Workshop: Number System in Sacred Steel Music with Phil Campbell

Performances Performances

Sacred Steel Jam

Sunday Service Hosted by Alvin Lee Recognition, Appreciation and Acknowledgments

Sacred Steel Workshop: Introduction to Home Recording Setup with Dante Harmon and Carlton Campbell

5:00 PM Performances

6:00 PM Closed to Reset

7:00 PM Performances

7:30 PM The Campbell Brothers

8:00 PM

Introducing The Sacred Steel Museum with Del Ray Grace Performances

Seminole Stage

10:00 AM Swinglewide

10:30 AM The Florida Quest Kim LeCouteur

11:00 AMFrank LindamoodJulian/Cherkinsky BandPurple Hayseeds

11:30 AMEmmett Carlisle Chuck Hardwicke and The Hart Line Patchwork Trio

12:00 PMGrant Livingston Joe Mark The Shytunas

12:30 PM Deblois In Good Company TellemTall

1:00 PMDave Pucik Taildraggers UltralightThomas Hendon

1:30 PMHadley Parrish-CottonThe Dunehoppers Spider McGill

2:00 PMSpider McGill Corey Hall & The Misplaced Ramblers Jane Fallon

2:30 PMSam Hankinson TellemTall Chris Kahl

3:00 PM Ray Cerbone Americana And More Crucial Eddy and The Uncanny Valley Authority Lucky Mud

3:30 PMAyres of Promise Alivia & Victoria Uncle Mosie

4:00 PMRic J Edmiston June Bunch Bing Futch

4:30 PM Tallahassee Youth JamLloyd Baldwin and Friends

Tower Stage

Friday May 22 Saturday May 23 Sunday May 24

10:00 AM Sacred Harp Shape Note Singers

10:30 AM VGO

Tale Tellers of St. Augustine

Sacred Harp Shape Note Singers

11:00 AM Chris Kastle

Bartram Trail Society of Florida

11:30 AM Story Swap with Tale Tellers

12:00 PMWalt Belcher Chris Kastle

Tale Tellers of St. Augustine

12:30 PMCarol Mahler Story Swap with Tale Tellers

Bartram Trail Society of Florida

1:00 PM

Tale Tellers of St. Augustine

1:30 PM Walt Belcher

Bartram Trail Society of Florida

2:00 PM Story Swap with Tale Tellers La Casita HispaniolaCarol Mahler

2:30 PMLa Casita Hispaniola Deborah Lyn ThompsonHaitian Folklife Society

3:00 PMHaitian Folklife SocietyCarol MahlerDeborah Lyn Thompson

3:30 PMChris Kastle VGO VGO

4:00 PMDeborah Lyn ThompsonHaitian Folklife SocietyThe Florida Quest

4:30 PM Deblois

Will McLean Stage

Friday May 22 Saturday May 23

Sunday May 24

10:00 AMSwinglewideDel Suggs and Friends Little Sister

10:30 AMTaildraggers UltralightLarry MangumSinkhole Serenaders

11:00 AMIn Good CompanyPatrick Sampson Rachel Grubb

11:30 AMThe New Strangers The New 76ers Deblois

12:00 PMThomas Hendon Ray Cerbone Americana And More June Bunch

12:30 PMAll Boxed Up The Carr Sisters The Wire Birds

1:00 PM Chris Kahl Ric J. Edmiston Wild Shiners

1:30 PMBen Prestage Kim LeCouterThe Deux Francois Band

2:00 PMBunny Bread Bandits Brett Wellman & "Dangrous" Dave Messler Crucial Eddy and Uncanny Valley Authority

2:30 PMPurple Hayseeds Musika TerraeJulian/Cherkinsky Band

3:00 PM Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band Rural Route 2The Traveling Newberries

3:30 PM Dim Lights The Currys Ayres of Promise

4:00 PMDav!d Reed Chelsea SaddlerFrank Lindamood

4:30 PMJeanie Fitchen Dave Pucik Hadley Parrish-Cotton

5:00 PM Haiqiong Deng Corey Hall & The Misplaced Ramblers

5:30 PM Sam Hankinson Joe Bone

6:00 PM

CLOSED TO RESET

7:00 PM Open Mic Hosted by the Will McLean Foundation Open Mic Hosted by the Will McLean Foundation Open Mic Hosted by the Will McLean Foundation

10:00 AM

Workshop One

Friday May 22Saturday May 23Sunday May 24

Very Basic chord theory. Playing 3 chord songs. Learn to strum Amazing Grace on guitar in key of G with Swinglewide

Introducing the Mountain Dulcimer, Bing Futch

11:00 AM Shape Note Singing School with Sacred Harp Shape-Note Singers

12:00 PM

1:00 PM

Three-finger Old Time Banjo Workshop with Frank Lindamood

Celtic Fiddling with The Lubben Brothers

Songwriting Workshop with Thomas Hendon

Packet Rats Shanties of Florida

2:00 PM

3:00 PM

Packet Rats Shanties of Florida

No Strings Attached! An Introduction to Accordion for String Players with Sinkhole Serenaders

Bottleneck Slide Guitar with Crucial Eddy Cotton

Yodeling fun with Lucky Mud Sacred Harp Shape Note Singers

Introduction to the fretless cigar box guitar with Dav!d Reed

Greek fiddle and bagpipe music with Paddy League

4:00 PM

Strum Into Song: A Beginner's Folk Guitar Circle for women with Kim LeCouter

Workshop on string arranging, songwriting, and harmony vocal arranging with The Wire Birds

Beginning Guitar with The Traveling Newberries

Deborah Lyn Thompson,TellemTall, Stories from the Hat

Playing Sliabh Luchra music with Daniel McAlistair

Folk songs from the Andes regions of Latin America with Musika Terrae

Performers & Group Members

Alivia and Victoria - An engaging, multitalented, and multi-instrumental modern folk duo: Alivia Hunter, Ollivander Hunter, Eli Hunter, Victoria Griffin

All Boxed Up - Traditional Irish music and song: Daniel MacAlistair and Paddy League

Andy Kane - Square, contra and family dances to oldtime tunes: Andy Kane

Ayres of Promise - Family gospel band: blending harmonies, rare young talent, mixing old-fashioned/ contemporary sounds: Sarah, Elizabeth, & Grace Ayres

Bartram Trail Society - Tales and songs of Bartram’s Travels in Florida: Robert Wilson, Jim Sawgrass, Mike Adams, Lee Pinkerton, Bill Snyder, Sam Carr, Dean Campbell, Carole Adams, Janis Brown, Linda Crider

Ben Flournoy Trio - Truth about traveling and swing the world: Ben Flournoy, Mike Stakelum, Hunter Daws

Ben Prestage - high-energy one-man band: Ben Prestage

Bing Futch - Mountain dulcimer folk-rock: passionate, humorous, and energetic! Bing Futch

Bob Patterson - Bob writes original music and stories about Florida: Bob Patterson & Carol Kramer

Brett Wellman & “Dangrous” Dave Messler - Acoustic blues from the Delta to Chicago, plus stories of the artists and songs: Brett Wellman, Dave Messler

Bullard Brothers and Friends - Original Florida songs and traditional gospel: Jerry Bullard, Johnny Bullard, Kerry Waldron, Amanda Bullard, Laura Bullard, Michael Godwin, Wayne Martin

Bunny Bread Bandits - Contradance music on accordian, fiddle, banjo, bass, guitar, and percussion: Carrie Hamby, Aidan Collins, Ben Green, Liz Sparks, Erice Shepard, Howard Pardue, Kirill Litvak, Neil Jones

Carol Mahler - Stories from the African-American, Florida-Cracker, and Seminole traditions: Carol Mahler

Chelsea Saddler - Songs from a deep well of life experiences as a queer woman, adventure, and heartache: Chelsea Saddler and Lauren Gilliam

Chris Kahl - Florida Folk Songs and Stories: Chris Kahl

Chris Kastle - Traditional and original stories and songs of Florida and beyond: Chris Kastle

Chuck Hardwicke & The Hart Line - Florida songs reflecting life along the St Johns river and the Cracker cowmen: Chuck Hardwicke, Dean Parrish, Karan Newman, Bill Snyder

Coral Riff – Contra Band: Kathie Aagaard, Sarah Mitchell, Sherry Mattos, Wes Maluk

Corey Hall & The Misplaced Ramblers - American Roots Music. Folk , Peidmont Blues , Oldtime Etc.: Corey Hall, Matt Law, Matt May, Cristina Paradise, Zach Paradise

Cortadito - Traditional folk and country music from Cuba: Jose Elias, Julio Cesar Rodriguez, Alberto Pantaleon, Tony Perigo, Santiago McCook

Cross Creek Cloggers - Appalachian clogging to oldtime music: Sandy McGee, Piper Call, Nolan Hines, Julie Dicks, Mark Dicks, Eleta Sucsy, Dianne Harper, Denise Weber, Cheryl Miller, Sandra Noonan, Suzanne Stapleton, Sunita Shepherd, Kevin Shepherd, Leah Vale Compton, Bill Paine, Pete Sucsy, Pat Stevens, Gary Zimmerman, Tim Stevens, Kai Sucsy, Mike Stapleton, Sarah Wylie, Forrest Christoffers

Crucial Eddy and the Uncanny Valley AuthorityHome made and vintage songs of humor, heartbreak, highways and hope: Eddy Cotton, Nancy Lynch, David Lynch, John Peyton, David Waite, Mike Godwin

Dav!d Reed - Caribe-vibe Folk & Cigar Box Guitar Blues: Dav!d Reed

Dave Pucik - Songs about wit, grit, underdogs, and hard-won hope from a Cajun/Delta/Appalachian troubadour: Dave Pucik

Deblois - Florida girl songs of struggle and joy, acoustic guitar and alto: Deblois

Deborah Lyn Thompson - Born and raised in N Florida, lotsa Florida stories & adventures in other lands: Deborah Lyn Thompson

Del Suggs / Del Suggs and Friends - Guitar-driven songs reflecting life in the Sunshine State: Del Suggs, Michael Sautter, Danica Winter, David Murphy

Dim Lights - Soulful Trio with tight rhythm, blending harmonies, and a joyful spark: Karan Newman, Tim Stevens, Ned Stewart, Eli Tragesh, Garrett Alvar

Dodo Awoko - Group Dodo Awoko showcases instruments & songs of Cote d’Ivoire West Africa: Martin Zagbo, Morikeba Kouyate, Abou Cisse, Saturnin Ba, Emmanuel Djo Bi, Mohammed DaCosta

Performers & Group Members

Drew Thomas - Lively caller of oldtime dances: Drew Thomas

Elder Charlot & the Akoustiks- Eclectic band from Haiti blending genres from over the world for an inclusive and fun set: Elder Charlot, Robenson Desius, Joy, Olivier Edlin, Eddy Lamarre, Fedner Moreau, Stanley Laforest

Emmett Carlisle - Original Florida songs about history, characters, and the environment: Emmett Carlisle

Frank Lindamood - Old time and timeless songs of our country: Frank Lindamood

Frankie Jay & The Chicken Parade - A curious group of musicians with a particular sense of humor and humanity: Frank Julian, Curtis Wayne Schaper, Paul Belmore, Laird Duran, Ron Townsend

Grant Livingston - Florida songs with a sense of history and a sense of humor. Feel free to sing along! Grant Livingston, Jonathan Hodge, Dan Peterson

Hadley Parrish-Cotton - Insightful and optimistic songs to sing and smile to: Hadley Parrish-Cotton, Eddy Cotton Haiqiong Deng - Haiqiong Deng, Isabel Liu, Jolin Zhu, Xiuqin Li, Zonghuang Deng

Haitian Folklife Society formerly Just The Way it Was - Passing on the Haitian folk culture and tradition: Liliane Louis, Marie Romaine Desir, Elvire Cola, Christiana Pierre, Mariette Francois, Walnette Zephirin, Karen Salvatore, Joachim Louis, Joachim Louis Jr., Fabienne Josaphat, Danyiel Louis, Dustin Louis, Dominique Louis, Bella Fuenmayor, Jacqueline Saint-Louis, Chantal Lalanne, Marie Pierre-Louis

Harmonic Motion Middle Eastern Music and DanceArmenian, Turkish, Sephardic and Arabic music & dance: Joe Zeytoonian, Myriam Eli, Dativa Silva

Hot Pepper Steppers with Runaway BiscuitsAppalachian style clogging performed to live old time string band music: Mary Allgire, Carrie Danielson, Norma Skaggs, Cheyenne Alderson, Rima Nathan, Cassia Wagner, Fatima Alcantara, Drew Thomas, Howard Pardue, Myoko Inouye, Bobby Lolley, Caitlin Murphy, Andy Martin, Roger Eudy

In Good Company - offers fine harmonies, original songs, and musical fun! Ingrid Schaper, Curtis Wayne Schaper, Lisa Bohn, Nick Bohn

Jane Fallon - Literate and melodic folk/americana: Jane Fallon

Jeanie Fitchen – Traditional, contemporary topical, original, environmental songs: Jeanie Fitchen, Mark Billman

Jerry Mincey with Bob Bronar and Jim Rigel- Original songs of Florida’s history and culture: Jerry Mincey, Bob Bronar and Jim Rigel

Joe Bone – Joe Bones plays rooted traditional rural string music: Bob Murphy, Greg Allen, Caitlin Murphy, Matthew Sabatella

Joe Mark – Guitar and fiddle performing traditional and original songs on the history and beauty of Florida: Joe Mark and Gene Smith

Julian/Cherkinsky Band – Florida/Ironic Songs with a Twist: Jordan Cherkinsky, Frank Julian, Jim Rigel, Ron Townsend, Teresa Cruise, Sean Curran, Garrett Alvar, Tim Martin, Pasco Paul Belmore, Laird Duran, Scott Jackson

June Bunch - Genre-defying ukulele folk with velvet vocals and story-filled melodies: June Bunch

Karibbean Groove - A dynamic dance band that entertains its audiences with a Caribbean sound: Yajaida Aristhyl, Judes Albert, Michelson Aristhyl, Mikenson Pierre, Rickcene Ulysse, Emmanuel Jean

Kim LeCouteur – Songs rooted in Florida’s beauty, lore, and wild heart: Kim LeCouteur

La Casita Hispaniola (book/story) - Reading of a tale about the rich cultures of the Hispaniola Island: Yajaida Aristhyl, Michelson Aristhyl, Judes Albert, Rickcene Ulysse

Larry Mangum - Larry honors Florida’s folk culture through dedication to our history, heroes and environment: Larry Mangum

Lee Hunter & The Gatherers Trio - Clever original songs and traditional tunes pulled from the roots of American music: Lee Hunter, Joey Kerr, Landon Walker, Walter Mingledorff

Lili Forbes & the Funky ‘Taters - Danceable Original Caribbean and Gulf Coast Music: Lili Forbes, Mike Lewis, Jan DeCosmo, Deanna Miller, Jordan Green, Chris Seepersaud, Bill Landing, Kwame Storey, Tom Buchanan, Woodson Toulote

Little Sister - Songwriting magic from the Space Coast with so much craft and charm, you will beg for another song: Tina Eno and Marcy Brenner

Performers & Group Members

Lloyd Baldwin and Friends - Songs and fiddle tunes in the old time southern string band tradition: Lloyd Baldwin, Marion Lasley, Bill Martin, Joe Nelson, James Pittman, Buz Sibley

Lucky Mud - SwampyTonk and Folkabilly with a Florida twang: Mike and Maggie McKinney

Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String BandTraditional folk songs and related genres that tell the story of the United States: Matthew Sabatella, Ian Wilkinson, Sean Edelson, Chris DeAngelis

Mean Mary - Foot-stomping banjo and deep vocals carry intricate stories with a dash of fiddle and guitar: Mary James and Frank James

Melody Trucks & The Fitzkee Brothers Band - Original Southern roots rock steeped in tradition, groove, and the spirit of the Allman Brothers: Melody Trucks, Alex Fitzkee, Drew Fitzkee, Jaden Lehman, Ryan Gregg

Musical Traditions- Musical Traditions children perform traditional Russian folk songs and dances: Sofia Cusumano, Maximus Cusumano, Alia Cabeza, Magnus Cabeza, Ilona Lahanova, Alice Gorosciuc, Alice Yunusova, Darina Lyapina, Victoria Selyukova, Xander Turk, Aleksandra Vargas, Emilia Demican, Saraphima Johnson

Musika Terrae/Cecilia Bohorquez - Music and songs from the Andes mountains of South America, playing the Charango and Ronrroco: Cecilia Bohorquez

Packet Rats Shanties of Florida - Shanties & nautical work songs of Florida and beyond: Goody Haines-Fuller, Gary Fuller, Ed Bell, Royce Bell, Bob Lusk, Bruce Witton, Oisin O’Rouchiann

Paco and Celia Fonta Siempre Flamenco - Traditional flamenco music and dance from Andalusia Spain: Paco Fonta, Celia Fonta

Paddy League - Subtropical Panamericana: Exquisite poetry set to music inspired by traditions from Pole to Pole: Paddy League, Brian Hall, Reo Morris

Papaloko & Loray Mistik - Haitian Voodo Pop music and dance band: Papaloko, Maalik Simbi Makaya, Clark Cajuste, Kenneth Metzker, Silencieux, Pierre Richa Murt, Buffalo, Shadia Nelson

Patchwork Trio - A Trio that plays blues to bluegrass with soaring harmonies: Cathy DeWitt, Janet Rucker, Jolene Jones

Patrick Sampson - From folk music to blues rock and Americana with a singer songwriter heart: Patrick Sampson

Purple Hayseeds - Songs of love, hard luck, regret, conspiracy, longing, & sometimes trains: Chuck Levy, Tommy Stone, Sarah Hinds, Jenny Baxley Lee, Cobblestone, Amanda Husband, Kristen Nauth, Vickie Frazier, Ryan Hall, Chelsea Carnes

Rachel Grubb - Songs about life and Florida: Rachel Grubb and Jake Gleaton

Ray Cerbone Americana And More - Songwriter and covers of singer/songwriters songs. Storyteller style and fingerstyle guitar: Ray Cerbone

Raymi Dance School - Raymi dance brings to the stage the spirit of Peruvian rhythms, bold dance, live music, and color: Silvia Huddleston, Genesis Somoza, Sandro Portilla, Perla Del Castillo, Darwin Motato, Mayra Guevara, Marcio Guevara, Luis Reyes, Shirley Contreras, Pedro Reyes, Allyson Munyan, Maria Aymara

Ric J. Edmiston – Humor, bathos, serious songs w/decent guitar! Dennis Hardin, Ric J Edmiston, Angie Prather

Romeo’s Tassa Kidz - Tassa drumming is a lively and rhythmic style of percussion: Romeo Ragbir, Kyle Ragbir, Michael Samai, Shreya Ragbir, Shivanan Ramanan, Vinai Samlal Maharaj,Vinayak Cassie, Malena Samai, Justin Seloch, Justin Ramanan, Ashish Gangadhar, Varish Gangadhar, Bhim Ramanan, Avinash Samlal Maharaj, Ayana Ramanan, Ramesh Cassie, Artee Cassie, Ethan S, Andrew S

Rural Route 2 - Three generations of musical storyweavers share history & heritage with their harmonies & humor: Amy Alderman, Kathrine Alderman, Joan Alderman

RXN - Three generations of musical storyweavers share history & heritage with their harmonies & humor: Jeremy Kuhne and Drew Thomas

Sacred Harp Shape-Note Singers - “FaSoLa” 4-part a cappella community singing of shape-note hymns and fuging tunes: Rachel Speer, Dean Jens, Molly Bagley, Shelby Burke, Sadie Bagley, Art Crummer, Morgan Bunch, Beverly Dayton, Dorothea Maynard, James Kushner, Jenni Jochman, Fay Baird, Bill Goldberg, Jill Cocanougher, Esther Morgan-Ellis, Cameron Adams, Maygan Barker, Colton Barber, Al Brown, Richard Ferriss, Moriah Whitley, Karen Lee-Duffell, Anna Strickland

Sacred Steel Ensemble - Esemble/choir for the Sacred Steel Summit 2026: Keith & Derrick Lee, Dawn Beard, Robin Beard

Sam Hankinson- Fingerpicked renditions of traditional blues and folk songs: Sam Hankinson

Performers & Group Members

Sarah McCulloch - Sarah weaves traditional folk storytelling with the heart of country music: Sarah McCulloch, Colin Kenny, William Ellis, Savannah Bickerstaff, Jonathan Hodge, Stan Geberer

Sinkhole Serenaders - Acoustic Trio playing Obscure 20th Century Favorites for these Modern Times: Gus Olmos, Pete McGrain, Jim Marks

Spider McGill - Blues and originals built around a fictional Florida Blues Guitar legend named Spider McGill: Joe and Mike Reina

Stockholm South- We play traditional Swedish folk music and folk music from further South, Tallahassee style! Miyoko Inouye, Brian Inouye, Aidan Collins, Bill Dudley

Suwannee Spirit Kids Music Camp Instructors - We are a nonprofit kids music camp located at the spirit of the suwannee music park and campground: Charley Dame, Mark Stewart, Barry Sager, Casey Smith, Amy Jackson, Melissa Glasscock, Kelly Goddard, Lisa Brookins, Martin Feagle, Raynae Jones

Swinglewide - Florida duo with a swingy vibe including waltzes, stomps and songs about Florida and the south: David Waite and Barbie Beckford

Taildraggers Ultralight - Original Americana, Folk and Instrumental: Paige Bechtold, Trey Brewer, Mike Lagasse, Jan Brewer

Tale Tellers of St. Augustine - Variety of engaging storytellers with Florida tales plus original and traditional tales: Kathy Kniery, David Fussell, Ted Miller, Kathy Mignerey, Natalie Beltrami, Margaret Kaler

Tallahassee Youth Jam - Traditional old time, bluegrass and Celtic music: Aisha Ivey, Samantha Crawford, Rob Schoen, Rocky Schoen, Charley Schoen, Fern Liebrich, Aidan Hardcastle, Deb Amesqua, Christian Craig

TellemTall - Tellem Tall tells a blend of Florida fact and fiction mostly from a 12 year old boys point of view: Eric Hoeppner

The 813 P.R.oject - Bomba Puertorriqueña with live drums and singers and dancers: Marisol Quiles, Arturo Fuentes, Neyda Pagan, Lillian Medina, Ingrid Colon, Yessenia Arias (Rosada), Yaileen Garcia Lopez, Cesar Rodriguez, Auroro Garcia, Dana Garcia, Angel Luis Reyes, Waldemar Marrero, Yaileen Lopez Garcia

The Campbell Brothers - Music infused with gospel and blues: Chuck Campbell, Phil Campbell, Calton Campbell, Daric Bennett, Denise

The Carr Sisters - Original folk music trio with a bluegrass flair: Madison & Ella Carr

The Currys - Thoughtful songwriting, vocal harmonies, and engaging stage banter: Jimmy Curry, Galen Curry

The Deux Francois Band - A stirring mix of Celtic and OldTime tunes: Frances Pisacane, Sarah Mitchell, Bill Dudley, Eugene Ross

The Dunehoppers - A FUN blend of Folk, Bluegrass and originals for over 25 years: Mike Elias, Allen Hood, Kathy Zemaneck, Bob Parsons, Janine Rainville

The Firewater Tent Revival - High energy quasi bluegrass rock outfit playin songs of the Suwannee River and Florida highway blues: Dave Smith, Jeff Hoff, Nigel Ledford, Kris Whatley, Brandon Howell, Ed Richardson

The Florida Quest - Songs about Florida history and culture, and songs by Floridians: Ben Brotemarkle and Tim Carroll

The Krickets - The Krickets are an Americana trio from the gulf coast, the band’s music is genre-bending Americana steeped in their signature folk harmony: Lauren Spring, Emily Stuckey, Rachel Grubb, Caroline Evans, Molly Thomas

The Leeboys - Music infused with gospel and blues: Alvin Lee, Keith Lee, Derrick Lee, Frank Owens, Lil Al Cordy, Earl Walker, Johnathan Walker, Teione Noble, Dontrail Wright

The Living Legends of Sacred Steel - The Best of Sacred Steel from the Living Legends: Calvin Cooke, Chuck Campbel, Ted Beard, Aubrey Ghent, Lonnie Bennet, Ronnie Mozee

The Lubben Brothers - High-energy, American folk with deep roots in Celtic fiddling and Guthrie’s idealism: Joshua, Tommy, and Michael Lubben, Jorge Sebastian

The New 76ers - Acoustic family trio from Tallahasseeoriginal music and soaring harmonies: Brian Durham, Danny Goddard, Kelly Goddard, Kayla Williams

The New Strangers - Solid energy Celtic and old-time traditionals, stirring originals and captivating covers: Mark Smith, Mattie Montgomery, Aine Webber

The Shytunas - Lively and quirky blend of family-friendly pop, rock, folk and punk: Amelia, Seth, & Jen

The Traveling Newberries – The Traveling Newberries perform original folk songs from past Florida Folk Festival performers: Neil A. Lofgren and Robert Dean Parrish

Performers & Group Members

The White Knuckle Flyers– A mixture of Florida songs & thought provoking humor & story telling: Jim Bickerstaff, Will Ellis, Savannah Pierce, Stan Geberer, Jonathan Hodge, Mark Goldberg

The Wire Birds - The Wire Birds is string quintet performing original songs about Florida: Dan Stepp, Abby Villela, Dan Hardwick, Cate Hancock, Maurya Dickerson, Julie Frank, Dan Peterson

The Young Guns of Sacred Steel - The young guns are the emerging younger players of sacred steel genre: Tommy Phillips, Dontrail Wright, Tim Williams, Terrel King, Xavier Perkins, Dominic Collins, Teione Noble, Monte Noble

Thomas Hendon - Songs dreamed up on a porch, and the banks of the Apalachicola river in rural Calhoun County, FL: Thomas Hendon Aycock Jr.

Tom Greene - Contra and square dance caller: Tom Greene

Uncle Mosie - A foot-stomping, soulful blend of alt-folk, country and bluegrass vibes: Scott Ashcraft, Andrew Cook, Brian Turk, Mark Archer, Dana Myers

VGO - Stories and music from tradition, history, and folklore: Phillip Terry

Vicki Morrison - Vicki has been calling contra dances since 2010. This is her 13th year performing at the FFF: Vicki Morrison

Walt Belcher Storyteller - Amusing tales from Florida History: Bone Mizell, Weird Attractions, and more: Walt Belcher

Walter Parks - Historic spirituals, hollers, reels and originals prefaced with stories: Walter Parks, Matthew Lindsey, Steven Williams

Wild Shiners - Face-Melting Americana: Brian Turk, Tom Grant, Mike Lagasse, Andrew Cook, T’ai Welch

Ern est M. L

Ernest Lee grew up in North Carolina, where he learned to love painting as a youth. After training at St. Augustine’s University, he began painting daily while visiting museums and art exhibits. He won multiple awards for his work and was called Florida’s Van Gogh because of his robust impasto style with rich and vibrant colors.

In 2021, while returning to Gainesville from visiting the Van Gogh exhibit in Atlanta with his wife, Gloria, Ernest suffered a heart attack and died unexpectedly in the ambulance on the way to a hospital in Valdosta, Ga.

Gloria continues to display and sell Ernest’s artwork. Mrs. Lee keeps Earnest’s passion alive by donating funds to student art scholarships in Alachua and other Florida counties.

Visit Gloria and see Ernest’s beautiful work in the Craft Vendor area on the Amphitheater hill.

Florida Remembered

Experience Old Florida’s history, traditions and folkways at Florida Remembered. One of our newest additions to the festival, Florida Remembered, is dedicated to the robust spirit of Floridians and those from around the globe who have built the foundation of the Florida we know and love. With ingenuity and perseverance, our predecessors have conquered the hardships they encountered to cultivate Florida’s cultural landscape.

Meet characters from Florida’s past. See traditional crafts, tools and skills faithfully reproduced by experts. Through workshops, demonstrations and characterizations, tradition-bearers and interpreters will share their expertise as you explore Florida’s unique history.

All Day Activities:

Robert Wilson and Friends will portray  frontier trapper traders.

Florida Remembered band: Banjo Dewey and Bjorn Parramoure

Majorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park, learn about the life and work of Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author of The Yearling.

Florida Remembered Workshops

Friday

9a -12p: Sewing Embroidery with Rose Forbes and Susan Sandino.

9a -12p: Wooden Mallet Making with Cameron Becker.

11a - 1p: Wild Fermentation with Lev and Ife ShepsuMa’at and Angela Minno.

When spring comes, many plants send up tender young shoots that are as tasty as they are versatile. In this workshop, through wild lacto-Fermentation we will pickle wild and local vegetables using traditional preservation methods - a delicious way to extend the season and keep the land’s gifts close.

11a - 1p: Ethnobotany and Mycology Walk. Ecologist Mycol Stevens will lead an ethnobotany/mycology walk. Bring water, a notebook and be ready for some bad pun edutainment. Walks will meet up at the boardwalk to the River Gazebo.

1p - 3p: Sewing Patterns and Dress Making with Rose Forbes.

1p - 3p: Wooden Mallet Making (continued) with Cameron Becker.

3p - 5p: Pine Needle Weaving and/or Broom Making with Alexa Heilman and Jenna Niblack. Introduction to pine needle weaving and broom making, using longleaf pine needles and waxed thread. Students will be able to start a small basket to complete on their own (with materials provided) or make a

small item like ornament or broom.

5p - 6p: Conservation Cemeteries Question and Answer with Suzy Lyons of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery. Join in a discussion of traditional burial practices that humans have been doing throughout history. Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery’s mission is to conserve land and reunite people with the Earth.

Saturday

9a -12p: Dress making with Rose Forbes

9a -12p: Wooden Stool Making: Part 1 with Cameron Becker. This is a two-part workshop- continues from 1-3pm.

10a - 12p: Cabbage Palm Basket Weaving. Learn to make a plaited basket from cabbage palm fronds. With Willy the Losen and friends.

10a - 12p: Coiled Pine Needle Making with Beth Corless. Learn to sew coils of pine needles to make a basket. Show up early to reserve a spot. Ages 12 and up.

11a - 1p: Rug Making and Plant Paints with Angela Minno.

Florida Remembered Workshops

11a - 1p: Chaney Root Tonic Tea Tine with Lev and Ife ShepsuMa’at.

Smilax - known by many as wild asparagus or greenbrier - has long been a beloved wild food and remedy across the South and the Caribbean. Join us for a relaxed, convivial teatime as we brew and sip this earthy, nourishing root together. We’ll explore its history, its medicinal benefits, and what the teachings the land has rooted within.

11a - 3p: Palm Spoon Carving Demonstration with Josh Dissell

1p - 3p: Quilting with Rose Forbes.

1p - 3p: Wooden Stool Making: Part 2 with Cameron Becker.

1p - 3p: Cabbage palm weaving: Learn to weave swamp roses and palm critters. With Willy the Losen and friends.

2p - 3p: Conservation Cemeteries Question and Answer with Carley Zeffren of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery. Join in a discussion of traditional burial practices that humans have been doing throughout history. Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery’s mission is to conserve land and reunite people with the Earth.

2p - 4p: Pine Needle Weaving and/or Broom Making with Alexa Heilman and Jenna Niblack. Introduction to pine needle weaving and broom making, using longleaf pine needles and waxed thread. Students will be able to start a small basket to complete on their own (with materials provided) or make a small item like ornament or broom.

2p - 5p: Wool Wet Felting with Jamie Westfall. Stop by this hands-on demonstration to learn about how a sheep’s fleece can be processed into hats, rugs, clothing, art and more!

3p - 4p: Conservation Cemeteries Question and Answer with Kevin Moran of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery. Join in a discussion of traditional burial practices that humans have been doing throughout history. Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery’s mission is to conserve land and reunite people with the Earth.

Sunday

10 - 11a: Conservation Cemeteries Question and Answer with Carley Zeffren of Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery. Join in a discussion of traditional burial practices that humans have been doing throughout history. Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery’s mission is to conserve land and reunite people with the Earth.

10a -12p: Embroidery with Rose Forbes

10a -12p: Wooden Toolbox Making: Part 1 with Cameron Becker. This is a two-part workshop- continues from 1-3pm.

10a -12p: Palmetto Basket Weaving Learn to make a gathering basket from saw palmetto fronds. With Willy the Losen and friends.

11a - 1p: Seed Processing Demonstration with Angela Minno.

11a - 1p: Pine Needle Incense & Spanish Moss Cordage with Lev and Ife ShepsuMa’at. Come learn how to turn what the land freely offers into something beautiful and fragrant.

In this hands-on workshop, we’ll craft incense sticks and aromatic bundles using pine needles, and twist cordage from Spanish moss - a skill as old as Florida itself. You’ll leave with handmade creations and a deeper connection to the plants growing right beneath your feet.

12p - 2p: Ethnobotany and Mycology Walk Ecologist Mycol Stevens will lead an ethnobotany/mycology walk. Bring water, a notebook and be ready for some bad pun edutainment. Walks will meet up at the boardwalk to the River Gazebo.

12p - 2p: Pine Needle Weaving and/or Broom Making with Alexa Heilman and Jenna Niblack. Introduction to pine needle weaving and broom making, using longleaf pine needles and waxed thread. Students will be able to start a small basket to complete on their own (with materials provided) or make a small item like ornament or broom.

1p - 3p: Dress Making with Rose Forbes.

1p - 3p: Wooden Toolbox Making: Part 2 with Cameron Becker.

2p - 4p: Cabbage Palm Basket Weaving Learn to make a plaited basket from cabbage palm fronds. With Willy the Losen and friends.

2p - 5p: Wool Wet Felting with Jamie Westfall. Stop by this hands-on demonstration to learn about how a sheep’s fleece can be processed into hats, rugs, clothing, art and more!

Florida's Favorite Menus

Florida’s cooks have created unique flavors using the ingredients at hand and the traditions their families brought when they first came to the state. At the Florida Folk Festival, there’s everything from homemade beef jerky to Caribbean influenced dishes of chicken pilau, hoppin’ john, black-eyed peas, and okra and tomatoes. More recent immigrant communities have brought their culinary tastes for warm curries and fragrant rices from Trinidad, and light pastries and seasoned lamb from Greece. Florida’s coastal waters offer fresh crab, shrimp and oysters, and its farmers raise fresh strawberries, melons, and citrus.

During the Folk Festival you can enjoy collard greens and cornbread or a fine plate of fried chicken from the churches cooking at the Old Marble Stage food shelter. At the Amphitheater food court, there’s everything from barbecue and gumbo to lime fizzes and vegetarian fare. From breakfast until the midnight snack, there’s plenty of good food at the Florida Folk Festival.

Old Marble Stage Foods

Traveling Hibachi Man: Chicken, shrimp, steak, or fish served with your choice of rice or noodles, vegetables, egg rolls, French fries, collard green gumbo (sausage, smoked turkey, and shrimp), seafood pasta, potato salad, and coleslaw, along with desserts such as key lime cake or double chocolate cake, and drinks including water and sodas.

The Community Revival Center: Smoked and fried mullet, fried fish dinner, tilapia dinner, shrimp, rice, egg rolls, crab salad, hot dogs, chicken wings, fries, baked beans, green beans, collard greens, with drinks like water, soda, home-brewed tea, and lemonade, plus desserts including sweet potato pie and pecan pie.

True Wisdom New Hope Ministries: Banana pudding, Chessman cookie pudding cups, peanut butter brownie truffles, red velvet cake, and 7-layer cake, with drinks including raspberry lemonade, mango lemonade, and strawberry lemonade.

Amphitheater Stage Foods

AnnLee Concessions: Root beer floats, lemonade, orange drink, and bottled water.

Fruitbless: smoothies, arepas, empanadas.

Greek Flame Food: Gyros, gyro fries, falafel platter, Greek salad, Greek sampler platter, and veggie platter, with drinks including canned soda and lemonade.

Guillery’s Shaved Ice: Coffee, espresso shots, hot chocolate, assorted teas, coffee shakes, cappuccino, frozen chocolate, chai tea and hot herbal teas.

Lil Stack Shack: Pancakes, donuts, churros, chocolate-covered strawberry cups.

Mom’s Momo: Spicy chicken dumplings, pan-fried beef dumplings, spicy cucumber salad, golden fried rice, Chengdu spicy peanut noodles, curry chicken cutlet, Kung Pao chicken, and pork bao.

Radha’s Kitchen (Plant-Based/Vegetarian): Chana nachos, Spirit Bowl, arepas, beyond burgers, French fries, vegan egg salad wraps, tacos, chana masala chickpea curry, nemo baked tofu, and sweet and sour chicken.

Real Cajun Cooking: Jambalaya, gumbo, étouffée, Alligator, Shrimp, Oyster, Catfish, or Soft-Shell Crab po’boys, seafood Atchafalaya, shrimp burgers, crawfish rolls, French fries, sweet tea, and beignets.

Florida's Favorite Menus

Sour Mouth Fresh Squeezed Lemonade: Freshsqueezed lemonade with up to eighteen flavor options.

Southern Cravin’s: Cheeseburgers, country fried steak sandwiches, chicken Philly sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, Cayenne Kicker sandwiches, fried or blackened shrimp, buffalo ranch bites, chicken strips, dirty fries, French fries, tater tots, okra, onion rings, cheese sticks, corn nuggets, fried pickles, gator bites, and drinks including iced tea, soda, and water.

Sweet Treats Concession’s: Funnel cakes, fried Oreos, fried Snickers, fried Twinkies, elephant ears, cotton candy, chocolate-covered cheesecake, chocolate-covered key lime pie, chocolatecovered bananas, milkshakes, malt ice cream cups, strawberry shortcake, pickles, and drinks including soda, water, and Gatorade.

Traditional BBQ: Pork, brisket, and chicken

sandwiches, ribs, chicken wings, mac and cheese, loaded fries with pork, baked beans, coleslaw, fries, cheese fries, onion rings, fried okra, chicken tenders, tacos, The Barnyard, Kickin’ Cowboy, Spicy Cowboy, Off R Rocker Mac N Cheese, Loaded Fries, sweet tea, Coke, lemonade, water, banana pudding, peach cobbler, and brownies.

Wild Man Foods: Smoked fish dip, grass-fed beef franks, wild boar sausage, local wild boar, wild seafood chowder, smoked fish, sausage with onions, beef and peppers, crackers, hot dogs, water buffalo chili, mushrooms with steak, wild shrimp, crawfish, Lions Mane and Oyster, vegetables and wild rice, and mushrooms with steak in a creamy bone broth.

Wolverine Concessions: Bourbon chicken and rice, chicken wraps, catfish baskets or dinners, Quesadillas, Philly cheesesteaks, hamburgers, grilled cheese, Mac & Cheese, corn dogs, fresh vegetables, red beans and rice, French fries, breakfast items, and drinks including soda, water, tea, and lemonade.

Fiddle Contest

Work Your Bow and Step into Stardom

Fiddlers of all ages are invited to enter the official Florida State Fiddle Contest. The contest will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Gamble Rogers Stage on Saturday. The awards ceremony will take place Saturday night on the Amphitheater Stage.

The contest is sponsored by the Florida State Fiddlers Association (FSFA) in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks.  The contest has five categories: Junior (through age 12), Youth (13 to 17 years old), Contemporary, Twin and Old-Time. Contestants may enter one individual category and the twin fiddle competition if they wish. Contestants may have no more than two back-up musicians. Only stringed instruments are allowed as backup instruments. Contestants are required to perform 2 fiddle tunes of choice no more than 4 minutes in total length. A third tune should be prepared in the event of a tie.

For Additional information and to pre-register for the Fiddle Contest, contact the Florida State Fiddlers Association.

Fiddlers who have not pre-registered must purchase a festival pass and sign up at the Under the Oaks Stage beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Contest entry fees are $10 per division for FSFA members and nonmembers.

The Florida State Fiddlers Association is a group of musicians and enthusiasts dedicated to perpetuating the art of fiddling by demonstrating fiddling styles and documenting fiddling traditions of the state. Their intention is to entertain and educate with traditional fiddling. The organization has hosted an annual convention since 1981.

In 1990, the Florida Legislature designated this annual competition the official state fiddle contest. Everyone who enjoys good fiddling is invited to attend the contest and experience Florida’s varied fiddle music tradition.

2025 Winners

winner

winner Hazel

Youth fiddle winner John Steward Jr ( Eb Steward accompanist)

Oldtime-time

Abigail Gruber (with Andre Gruber accompanying her)

Junior fiddle

Sego (William Colledge accompanist)

Banjo Contest

2025 Winners of the Banjo Contest at the Florida Folk Festival over the Memorial Day Weekend. Left to right: Willow Cartier-B in the Journeyman category; Teresa O’Neil in the Novice category; and John McClure in the Senior Honors category.

The Florida Banjo Society along with the Florida Folk Festival will host an old-time banjo contest again this year. The competition will be judged by a talented slate of judges. The contest is open to old-time banjo playing styles.  Old-time banjo in this context refers to styles pre-dating bluegrass played on 5 string banjos.

Categories are Novice, Journeyman and Senior Honors.  Registration begins Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Gamble Rogers Stage, which is the venue for the contest.  Contestants must hold a valid festival pass and pay a $10 registration fee. Entrants will play two tunes.

Contact the Florida Banjo Society for additional information.

Prizes to be announced.

Florida Folk Festival

Environmental and Cultural Heritage Awareness Exhibitors

Visit the Environmental and Cultural Awareness Exhibits to discover the people and organizations devoted to conserving Florida’s cultural heritage and natural resources, from endangered species and vital rivers, to artists, educators, and historical sites.

Alzheimer’s Association will have their Brain Bus to inform about early detection and diagnosis, brain health, and risk reduction as well as providing an opportunity to learn about the resources available to individuals who may need to know.

Bartram Trail Society of Florida is committed to historic and environmental education, recreation, and preservation of the William Bartram heritage. They work to promote interest in developing public access recreational trails (paddling, hiking, and biking) and related activities along the routes taken by John and William Bartram through Florida and to coordinate a state-wide unified effort.

Florida Banjo Society is dedicated to the preservation and teaching of the Old-Time Banjo styles that were popular prior to the early part of the 20th Century. The Banjo Society hosts the Old-Time Banjo Contest annually and seeks contestants that honor and preserve this part of our culture and perform it publicly. Located near the Under the Oaks Stage, Sunday afternoon during the Banjo Contest.

Florida Fiddlers Association works to increase communication among fiddlers and other old-time musicians in the State of Florida. They hold an annual convention and conduct the Florida State Fiddle Contest. The fiddle contest is held on Saturday of the Florida Folk Festival at the Gamble Rogers Stage. Members of the Fiddle Association are happy to provide information at the stage during the fiddle contest.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will inform us of the history of the agency and conservation efforts in the state of Florida.

Florida Historical Society was established in 1856. The Florida Historical Society is dedicated to preserving Florida’s past through the collection and archival maintenance of historical documents and photographs, the publication of scholarly research on Florida history and educating the public about Florida history through a variety of public history projects and programs. Visit their exhibit during the festival to discover information about the life and work of writer, folklorist, and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. Books relating to Florida’s history and culture will be sold.

Florida Trail Association develops, maintains, promotes, and protects the Florida National Scenic Trail and other hiking trails in Florida while educating the public about conservation of the natural beauty of Florida.

Sierra Club will have educational materials on the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources as well as on their organization.

Friends of Florida Folk is an advocate for all things Florida Folk. They work to identify, protect, preserve, and promote folk arts, crafts, dance, and music. Located at the Merchandise Tent. They will have Friends of Florida Folk merchandise and are also selling performer CDs and festival T-shirts

Life South Community Blood Center will be Soliciting Blood Donations, their mission is to provide a safe blood supply that meets or exceeds the needs of each community they serve, while offering a variety of services to support ongoing and emerging transfusionrelated activities.

Suwannee Bicycle Association (SBA) is a White Springs nonprofit organization that creates and maintains local bicycle trails. They coordinate events offering pedaling, paddling and hikes.

The Florida Public Archaeology Network booth showcases a variety of archaeological artifacts and educational materials designed to highlight Florida’s rich history. Through interactive displays and engaging information, their team promotes stewardship, public appreciation, and understanding of the state’s cultural heritage while connecting with the community in a meaningful way.

Tallahassee Regional Music Collection is an ongoing endeavor to preserve and make accessible recorded audio, artifacts, and more created by artists who have ties to the Tallahassee region. The TRMC is a collaboration between the Warren D. Allen Music Library (AML) and the Center of Music of the Americas (CMA) at Florida State University (FSU).

White Springs Historic Preservation Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the unique history of White Springs, Florida. Located in the heart of north-central Florida.

Will McLean Foundation for Florida Heritage in Music presents material designed to educate about environmental protection and cultural preservation through the works of Will McLean and other Florida artists influenced by him. Located at The Will McLean Stage.

WWALS Watershed Coalition is an advocate for conservation and stewardship of water for South Georgia and North Florida. They will promote awareness, environmental monitoring, education, and citizen activities.

Calendar of Events

For more information visit StephenFosterCSO.org or call (386) 397-7009 *Special Event Fees*

OLD-TIME MUSIC WEEKEND *

September 11-13, 2026

Classes on old-time music techniques for the fiddle, banjo, guitar, and voice. Concerts nightly.

QUILT SHOW & SALE

October 16 - 18, 2026

A wide variety of quilts on exhibit, workshops, speakers, and demonstrations.

RURAL FOLKLIFE DAY *

October 29, 2026

Florida’s rural past comes to life in this educational and family fun event.

DULCIMER RETREAT *

November 13 - 14, 2026

Workshops, jams, and concerts with nationally recognized dulcimer players.

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS *

December 4 - 24, 2026

Enjoy complimentary popcorn, hot cocoa, marshmallows by the bonfire, music, vendors, snow flurries, Santa and more!

STEPHEN FOSTER DAY

January 17, 2027

An afternoon musical program in honor of National Stephen Foster Day

OLUSTEE BATTLE REENACTMENT

February 12-14, 2027

50th Annual Reenactment of the Battle of Olustee. *at Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park

FLORIDA OLD-TIME MUSIC CHAMPIONSHIPS *

March 19- 21, 2027

The Championships include contests, workshops, jams, and Contra dances. www.fotmcinc.com

ANTIQUE TRACTOR & ENGINE SHOW

April 1 – 3, 2027

Vintage farm equipment, tractor pulls, children ’ s games, exhibits, parade, demonstrations and more.

75th ANNUAL FLORIDA FOLK FESTIVAL *

May 28 - 30, 2027

Enjoy the diversity of Florida ’s culture and history when its residents share their food, music, dance, stories, crafts, and work life. Pets are not allowed. www.FloridaFolkFestival.com

Florida Folk Festival

Acknowledgments

Park Staff and Volunteers

Debra Walker, Park Manager

Josh Almarode, Assistant Park Manager

Courtney Livengood, Administrative Assistant

Andrea Thomas, Events Coordinator

Lindsay Sigler, Park Services Specialist

Savannah Lord, Park Services Specialist

Pat Cromer, Museum Guide

Kevin Pittman, Park Ranger

Tina Marshall, Park Ranger

Robert Heck, Park Ranger

Angela Mouton, Park Ranger

Flozell Redic, Park Ranger

Peter Shanks, Park Services Specialist

Kim Rivers, Park Ranger

April Davis, Maintenance Supervisor

John Hill, Maintenance Mechanic

Zach White, OPS Olustee

Jami Hart, OPS Attendant

Angella Moody, OPS Attendant

Macy Jenkins, OPS Tolls

Adam Sandlin, OPS Attendant

Dominick Tartaglia, State Folklorist

Carolyn Pardue, Stage Management

Cindy Chittick, Campground

Charlotte Burgess, Seminole Family Camp

Kim Tennille, Bureau Chief D2

John Lakich, Assistant Bureau Chief D2

Mike Radel,

Vernie Hardwicke, Registration

Chuck Bennett, Maintenance Volunteer

Jeff Niehaus, Maintenance Volunteer

Peter Thomas, Volunteer Events Assistant

Eric Wasser, Lighting Coordinator

Jeanne Wasser, Volunteer Events Assistant

Robert Townsend, Volunteer Events Assistant

Florida Park Service Staff/Volunteers

Mariah Aponte

Jacob Askin

Sam Atkinson-Nicolls

Shazad Baig

Ann Barkdoll

Rose Behrens

Adriana Betancourt

Megan Betancourt

Gabi Bradley

Meredith Campbell

Jim Connor

Daniel Cook

Chris Cox

Clay Dickson

Ashlyn Feit

Kelli Fowler

Isabella Gallos

Jon Gesell

Carl Gillis

Jeff Hays

Karl Herbert

Thea Knott

John Larson

Abby Ledford

Sydney Lowman

Ruarai Mckenna

Angelique Morgan

Lauren Natwick

Brandy Nethery

Kyler Nix

Rick Owen

Dan Pearson

Ariel Purl

Jaylin Rasumoff

Rachelle Sanford

Georgann Singletary

Courtney Smith

Cait Snyder

Bill Stanton

Kylie Taber

Amir Townsend

Bryce Tuttle

Angela Watson

Michelle Waterman

Rachael Weaver

Autumn White

Harley Williams

Hunter Woodruff

Brittnie Young

Our Florida Park Service

Ranger Association Family

Dana Bryan

Gwendolyn Bryan

Robin Boughton

Doug Carter

Theresa Carter

Charlotte Fooks

Larry Fooks

Donald Forgione

Rosie Forgione

Beth Hieber

Rick Hieber

Parker Hinson

Rebecca Hinson

Danuta Jacob

Scott Jacob

Cliff Joyce

Thea Knott

Falon Laird

Mark Manning

Clif Maxwell

Elaine McGrath

Joe McGrath

Mary Jo McGrath

Jennifer J Miller

Nels Parson

Warren Poplin

Joe Sutter

Bobby Toothaker

Sandra Vardman

Gerry Von Ehr

Margaret Von Ehr

Pat Wells

Security

Florida Wildlife Commission

Florida Highway Patrol

First Aid

Hamilton County EMS

Merchandise Sales

Stephen Foster CSO

Sign Language Interpretation

Diane Delage

Sarah Tait

Liz Miley

Piano Care

Bloch Piano Tuning and Restoration

Program

Lake City Reporter

Sound, Stage, & Lighting

Rick Ott Performance

HMX Productions

Vivid Sky Productions

Sanitation Services

Waste Pro

FusionSite Florida LLC

Sponsor Reception

Nutrien

Stephen Foster CSO

Amazing Graze

Flowers

The Bullard Family of White Springs

Tents

United Rent-All

Suwannee Valley Event & Party

Rentals

Acknowledgments

Sarah Mitchell Di Morgan

What We Do

Who We Are

Our mission is to support and help sustain the Florida Park Service. The Foundation , founded in 1993 as the Friends of Florida State Parks and renamed in 2018, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and the statewide citizen support organization of the Florida Park Service.

Advocacy: Serves as a conduit and a collective citizens’ voice.

Communications: Promotes Florida State Parks and visitor experiences.

Fundraising: Seeks funds, funders, and partnerships to support project s.

Support: To local Friends groups with education, communication and other services.

Programs: Awards grants and provides support through:

• Access for All - funds park accessibility projects and improvements

• LIFE - an educational partnership to utilize st ate parks as outdoor classrooms

• Yellow Buses in the Parks - funds transportation for educational trips

Why We Do It

We are passionate, committed and engaged in making Florida State Parks the very best now and for future generations. We value the Florida Par k Service and support their efforts to preserve, protect and manage state parks utilizing their staff including Friends groups, volunteers, and public and private partnerships. Join us!

Florida State Park Foundation, Inc.

1700 N. Monroe Street Suite 11 #2 00, Tallahassee FL 32303-5535

813-586-0681

info@floridastateparksfoundation.org

To learn more or make a donation - FloridaStateParksFoundation.org

BE A FESTIVAL PARTICIPANT!

The mission of the Florida Folk Festival is to provide a Florida heritage-based celebration while conserving and interpreting Florida’s diverse folk cultures and traditions.

The main criteria is Florida! Be a current or previous resident of Florida.

Be a Performer, Vendor, Crafter, or Volunteer!

Information, and Applications located on our website.

Deadlines for applications:

Performers: October 1

Food Vendors: January 1

Vendors & Exhibitors: February 1

Crafters: March 1

Volunteers: March 15