Folio Vol. 40, Issue 19 by Folio Weekly

10.1

2026

Witchcraft From Ancient Magic To the Modern Witch

A New Era For Five Points 34 Thoughts I Had While Watching

”Late Night

With the Devil”

Flipturn in Review

YOUR GUIDE TO ENTERTAINMENT IN NORTHEAST FLORIDA

Letter

from our General Manager Dear Jacksonville: Folio Is More Than Politics There is a long-standing assumption about alternative weeklies: If

you are independent, you must be political. If you question authority, you must lean one direction. If you occasionally publish an opinion someone doesn’t like, suddenly the entire publication gets shoved into a political box. But Folio has never fit neatly into a box, and I don’t intend to start putting it in one now.

Recently, I’ve heard from some readers who would like to see Folio return to being more political, with more attention devoted to controversy, scandal and the uglier side of what happens behind closed doors. I respect that opinion. There is absolutely a place for investigative journalism, political coverage and commentary in an independent publication, and Folio will continue to provide it when the story matters to Northeast Florida. Respectfully, though, I disagree that it should define us. Politics and scandal are not what Jacksonville is all about. They are not what St. Augustine, the Beaches, Amelia Island, Clay County or the rest of Northeast Florida are all about, either. There is far more happening here than whatever politician said something ridiculous this week or whatever controversy happens to be generating angry comments online. This community is so much bigger than its politics. It is the musician taking the stage at a packed little venue in Five Points, the artist turning a blank wall into something worth stopping to look at and the chef opening the doors to a restaurant they have dreamed about for years. It is Friday night football, Sunday at EverBank, live music in St. Augustine, festivals at the Beaches and locally owned businesses where the person behind the counter still knows your name. It is our history, our neighborhoods, our food, our music, our art and, yes, some of the wonderfully weird characters who could only come from Northeast Florida. Most of these people will never become a political headline or find themselves at the center of a scandal, but they are the people actually shaping the culture of this community. Their stories don’t matter less because they aren’t controversial. In many ways, they matter more. Folio has been part of Northeast Florida since 1987, and being an independent voice means we have the freedom to cover all of it. We can question people in power on one page and tell you about a killer new restaurant on the next. We can publish an opinion column, interview a musician, celebrate a local artist, call attention to something wrong in our community and then remind you why this is still a pretty damn great place to live. That balance matters to me. Having served as editor-in-chief, among other roles here, for the last several years, I will always strive to keep our team focused on balance so we have a shot at appealing to almost everyone. Independent journalism shouldn’t require us to spend every waking moment angry. It should require us to pay attention. Sometimes paying attention means exposing something that needs exposing. Sometimes it means giving a voice to someone who isn’t being heard. And sometimes it means introducing you to the people, places and experiences that make Northeast Florida worth calling home. So, yes, Folio will still talk politics. We will still have opinions. We will still ask uncomfortable questions, call out nonsense when warranted and occasionally make somebody mad. That comes with the territory when you refuse to be anyone’s mouthpiece. But scandal will never be our entire identity, because scandal isn’t Northeast Florida’s entire identity. There is simply too much good stuff happening around here to spend all our ink telling you what’s wrong. With that said, enjoy this month’s Entertainment issue and thank you for your support.

Teresa Spencer, General Manager 2 Folio Weekly

CONTENTS

VOL. 40, ISSUE 19

COLUM N S 8

FE AT U RES 11

HOROSCOPES

Witchcraft From Ancient Magic to the

Carmen Macri

Modern Witch

SPECIAL EVENTS

SPORTS

Behind the Scenes Of Jacksonville’s

The History of Astrology

48 Hour Film Festival

Carmen Macri

Ariana Alcantara

Giving Duval Something to Roar About

Creek

Teresa Spencer

Folio

Three Games In, These Jaguars Are

TRIVIA, ETC.

FOLIO WEED

A Brush With History

Teresa Spencer

Todd Brown

Teresa Spencer

The Haunted Mansion Ride Is Coming

Kerry Speckman

A New Era for Five Points Elliot Henry

FOLIO’S BEST BITES

34 Thoughts I Had While Watching “Late Night With the Devil”

FOLIO STAFF:

Ambar Ramirez

JOHN PHILLIPS President

AARON BERKSHIRE Photographer

TERESA SPENCER General Manager

JEFF CARD Photographer

KERRY SPECKMAN Writer

MICHAEL TEAL Photographer

AMBAR RAMIREZ Creative Director

ELLIOT HENRY Writer & Designer

CARMEN MACRI Social Media Manager & Lead Writer

TODD BROWN Contributor

ARIANA ALCANTARA Writer

Under the Rainbow

Ariana Alcantara

CONCERTS

Teresa Spencer

to Avondale

Avery Anna: A Country Artist On the

Pride Events

COMEDY & MAGIC

Teresa Spencer

Where to Shop Witchy

ART

A Little Love and Color for Julington

Rise

THEATER & FILM

31 Nights Of Terror Teresa Spencer

Teresa Spencer

Space is the Place: Skyview Takes Flight at the WJCT Soundstage Shelton Hull

Amelia Island Gets Ready To Swing Teresa Spencer

Modest Mouse at The Amp Ambar Ramirez

A Thousand Shows, Five Volumes of “Super Happy Fun Time” and a Plate of Garlic Crab Neha Nidheesh

Smash Hit: Carolina Jax Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri

Blues, Brews, Bourbon &

Flipturn in Review

BBQ Raises More Than

Carmen Macri

$47,000 For Florida Theatre

Teresa Spencer

New Music Releases Ambar Ramirez

NEHA NIDHEESH Writer

Subject: 9.16 Folio

Morning Ariana and all Folio staff, just read great article on Gambling and it behoves me to see actors sports people promoting it on TV ads. The addiction to gambling is has bad as drugs. But I hope next FOLIO will be about voting and Trumps threat to send FBI and or ICE to precincts. I have worked every election since 2018. It is so hard very hard to cheat double vote or be an illegal to vote. I was so disappointed hearing people repeat what Trump and his project 2025 lackeys spout: 1000 of illegals have been voting! That is quite impossible even explaining why it is impossible they tilt their heads look sceptical. Teresa and crew keep up the amazing work. Excellent articles : USS Lincoln, Green Medicine, art, homeless....

Pamela Toal

4 Folio Weekly

THE

MAIL

BOUQS & BRICKS BOUQUETS

To Jacksonville University alumna Charlotte Rose, who sailed into the history books by winning the 2026 ILCA 6 Women’s World Championship. The former JU sailing standout became the first American woman to claim the prestigious title since 2005. Now Rose has her sights set on representing Team USA at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. From Jacksonville waters to the top of the sailing world, Rose is making Northeast Florida proud. Fair winds and full sails on the road to 2028! To Lidia Rak for turning compassion into action. Honored by the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, Rak has combined science and advocacy to push for better pediatric cancer research, taking her work from Florida all the way to Capitol Hill. Here’s to a young changemaker making sure kids with cancer are seen, heard and never overlooked.

BRICKBATS

To the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, where a budget problem has somehow grown into a nearly $40 million financial crater. JTA is confronting a projected $39 million shortfall, with layoffs, reduced bus service and pauses to the Skyway and NAVI among the measures being taken to stabilize its finances. City auditors previously identified millions in lower-than-expected revenue along with significant expenses that were not properly budgeted, including $8.4 million associated with the Connexion paratransit contract. Jacksonville taxpayers and, more importantly, the people who depend on public transportation deserve a clear accounting of how the situation deteriorated this dramatically. Cutting services and jobs may balance numbers going forward, but it doesn’t answer the $39 million question: How did JTA get here in the first place? City Council’s expected scrutiny of the authority couldn’t come at a better time.

Aries This spooky season just got a whole lot spookier … Venus and Mercury both go retrograde in your 8th house, so expect ghosts from your past lurking in the shadows. Be prepared to face long-forgotten wounds that never properly healed or grieve a relationship that is still very much alive. Sometimes the strongest thing to do is walk away.

Your Oct

Horosc

Taurus The dual Scorpio Venus-Mercury retrograde happens in your 7th house of relationships, and it’s finally time to ask yourself: how much are you willing to sacrifice to keep the peace? The Taurus full moon on October 26 will shed a whole new light on what you are willing to put up with in this stagnant relationship.

Cancer Agreements within your close circle seem to be up for renegotiation, and it might take you poking the sleeping bear before things can be harmonious again. With the Venus-Mercury dual retrograde lighting up your 5th house, you’ll find a new wave of self-righteousness to stand up for those who can’t stick up for themselves — just be prepared for the backlash of breaking the status quo.

Leo It might be time for you to be the villain in someone else’s story, Leo. It’s not free rein to let your impulses win and wreak havoc, but be prepared to not have many options that don’t leave someone upset. Mars will be in Leo all month long, pushing your desire to grow the conflict rather than de-escalate it. Your pride has always been a wicked thing.

Virgo Gemini If your ideas didn’t hold any power, people wouldn’t be so threatened by them. (un)Fortunately, you’re about to find out what standing ten toes down for your beliefs costs you. This month’s Mars-Pluto opposition deepens your resolve to defend your ideologies and stances — the perfect storm for high tensions and straws known for breaking the camel’s back. If you’re going to say something, say it with your chest. 6 Folio 6 Folio Weekly Weekly

That dusty box hidden safely underneath your bed finally resurfaced, and you couldn’t help yourself from reading the love letters littered throughout. You’ve always been sentimental, but this month will have you feeling a gut-wrenching nostalgia that just won’t dissipate. The dual Venus-Mercury retrograde amplifies everything tenfold; try to remember that certain doors closed so others could open.

tober

Capricorn

copes By Carmen Macri

There’s no fun in drowning, so why must you constantly overwhelm yourself with promises and tasks no one is asking you to take on? You are a go-getting people pleaser at heart, but that comes at a cost — and that is unfortunately your sanity. With the dual Venus-Mercury retrograde in your 11th house of community, you’ll find yourself finally using a shoulder to lean on … or two … or three.

Libra

You might not know what it means, or why it’s happening, but you just need to trust yourself to get through it. You are in the eye of the celestial storm this month with the Venus-Mercury retrograde and Mars-Pluto opposition. The new moon on October 10 could be seen as a rebirth — or an ego death. Rather than unraveling with the pressure of simply being, trust that there is light on the other side of whatever this is.

Aquarius Always the reluctant hero, Aquarius. Not a title you chose, but one you bear all the same. You’ll find yourself becoming quite the polarizing figure this month, and people either love you or hate you for your opinions. Normally you find yourself standing on the sidelines, but some things are worth fighting for. You’re technically picking your battles; you just happen to be picking them all.

Scorpio The reflection staring back at you doesn’t really feel like you, does it? Sometimes it’s best to just sit with that feeling rather than turning everything off. On October 3, Venus retrogrades in Scorpio, quickly followed by Mercury on October 23, and while this celestial game of chess is affecting everyone, you might feel like the main character of all its doom. Expect past relationships kicking your door down, demanding your attention. It’s lesson after lesson after lesson this month, Sagittarius. You’d think by now you’d learn a thing or two about trusting your intuition. You’ve always been the one to catch a funny feeling about a person months before they show their true colors, and this month is no different; you’ll just face the harsh reality of not nipping it in the bud at the first sign of discomfort.

Sagittarius

Pisces

Home is where the heart is, Pisces, and sometimes the heart is on an international flight to Europe. This month is all about packing up and finally booking that ticket. You’ve had a plan for a while now and always find a reason to put it off. There is nothing in the way this time, no matter how hard you try to find it. You don’t want to wake up in 15 years thinking, “Man, I wish I went when I had the chance.”

8 Folio Weekly

Photo by Mitchell Bowser

Special Events SEPT. 12–NOV. 7 13th Floor Haunted House We have to start with the most obvious and terrifying staple of the Jacksonville spooky season: the legendary 13th Floor Haunted House. If you’re looking for a serious scare, this is the destination that sets the bar for local haunted attractions. 9230 Arlington Expressway 13thfloorjacksonville.com OCT. 9–31 (EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY STARTING AT 6 P.M.) Chamblin Bookmine’s Lights Out This is probably my most anticipated spooky event of the year. Every October, Chamblin Bookmine does its due diligence as a locally owned business and shows others how it’s done. This lights-out event is exactly as it sounds: the bookmine shuts off its lights at 6 p.m. every Saturday in October, and the only way to shop is by flashlight. They go all out with decorations, too, so don’t be too alarmed if your beam happens to catch something… inhuman. 4551 Roosevelt Blvd. chamblinbookmine.com OCT. 8–31 Nightmare Bar This 90-minute pop-up bar experience is back! Running for most of October, it goes the extra mile by offering spooky-themed cocktails, music, and plenty of photo opportunities. With a purchased ticket, visitors can also take part in interactive games and challenges to win prizes. This year, Smirnoff Ice joins as an official partner. Element Bistro + Bar and Lounge feverup.com OCT. 10–31 (SELECT NIGHTS) 39th Annual Spooktacular The monsters usually come out at night, but in this case, it’s the animals at the Jacksonville Zoo doing the haunting. Visit the zoo after hours on select nights starting at 6 p.m. to journey through a 400-foot light tunnel, discover your spirit animal with the Witches of Trout River, and dance at the all-new Skeleton Disco. Along the way, enjoy trick-or-treat stations, seasonal photo-ops, and plenty of festive surprises. Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens jacksonvillezoo.org

OCT. 23 Candlelight: Halloween Classics Experience all your favorite spooky tunes in a totally unconventional way: performed by a live string orchestra surrounded by thousands of candles. The Candlelight concert series has been a massive hit in Jacksonville this year, and this is the ideal event if you prefer your Halloween a little more elegant. WJCT Studios candlelightexperience.com OCT. 24 Murray Hill-O-Ween For a true neighborhood celebration, look no further than Murray Hill-O-Ween. The festivities run all day long with something for everyone, featuring pumpkin painting, a retro video store pop-up, local author spotlights, plenty of candy, and a vibrant block party packed with live music, local food trucks, a pumpkin patch, and kid-friendly activities. Then, as the sun sets, the energy shifts into high gear for the main event: a Halloween parade starting at 7:30 p.m. 1080 Edgewood Ave. S., Nos. 4–5 murrayhilljax.com/hilloween Midnight Movie The festivities at Murray Hill-O-Ween don’t stop after the parade. In my opinion, the best part of the event kicks off right as the clock strikes 11:59 p.m. Partnering with Video Ghosts Cinema Club, this year’s late-night tradition features a spine-tingling midnight screening of the horror classic Night of the Living Dead. The Literary Lounge murrayhilljax.com/hilloween OCT. 31 Jacksonville Halloween Bar Crawl 2026 And for anyone who thinks a candlelight concert doesn’t involve nearly enough alcohol, the annual Halloween bar crawl is here to pick up the slack. The Crawl starts at Sneakers, with various other locations participating. crawlwith.us/jacksonville

g n i n e p p a h All things

in Ja ck so nv ill e

Click here for our events calendar 10 Folio Weekly

Photo by Bruno Guerrero

WITCHCRAFT FROM ANCIENT MAGIC TO THE MODERN WITCH

M BECAME SYNONYMOUS LE SA RE FO BE , ES VI MO WORE POINTY HATS IN OK COVEN OR FOLLOW BO CE FA A IN JO LONG BEFORE WITCHES D UL CO GIC. NTURIES BEFORE ANYONE PRACTICING FORMS OF MA E ER WITH HYSTERIA, AND CE W GS IN BE N MA HU STAGRAM, A TAROT READER ON IN

BY TERESA SPENCER

The history behind what we now broadly call witchcraft reaches back thousands of years. Ancient Mesopotamian societies left some of humanity’s earliest surviving written evidence concerning magic, spells, supernatural protection and fears of harmful sorcery. Ancient Egyptians used magical texts, amulets and rituals alongside religion and medicine, while the Greeks and Romans practiced their own forms of divination, curse magic, protective rituals and attempts to influence love, luck, health and enemies. Calling all of these ancient practices “witchcraft,” though, is a modern simplification. The people practicing them belonged to very different cultures and wouldn’t necessarily have thought of themselves as witches at all. Magic could exist alongside accepted religion, medicine and everyday life rather than automatically standing in opposition to them. The witch as we recognize her today came much later. She emerged as Christianity became dominant in Europe and attitudes toward certain magical practices gradually hardened. Church authorities condemned various forms of divination, sorcery and magic, though beliefs and enforcement varied enormously across centuries and regions. By the late medieval and early modern periods, European ideas about witchcraft had become tangled up with heresy, demons and the devil, and fear combined with religious conflict, local disputes, disease, crop failures and social instability to create an extraordinarily dangerous environment for anyone accused of being a witch. European witch persecutions eventually resulted in tens of thousands of executions, with women making up the majority of those killed, though men were prosecuted as well. Often an accusation had less to do with actual magical practice than with grudges, rumors, misfortune or simple suspicion toward someone who didn’t fit comfortably within a community. That fear crossed the Atlantic and found colonial Massachusetts in 1692, when more than 200 people were accused in Salem and 20 were ultimately executed — 19 by hanging and Giles Corey by pressing. Contrary to the popular image, Salem’s convicted witches were never burned at the stake. The irony is that most of the people persecuted as witches probably practiced no witchcraft whatsoever. Eventually, Western perceptions began changing again. By the 19th and 20th centuries, growing interest in folklore, spiritualism, ceremonial magic and ancient religions helped create a different cultural understanding of magic, and modern Pagan movements developed over the 20th century, including Wicca, which became closely associated in the public imagination with witchcraft.

Today’s witch is, as a result, remarkably difficult to define. Some modern witches are Wiccan; others are Pagan without being Wiccan, or practice folk traditions tied to a particular culture or family line. Many don’t belong to any formal religion at all and think of witchcraft simply as a personal spiritual practice, while others treat tarot cards, crystals or rituals more as symbolism, meditation or reflection than anything supernatural. You’ll hear terms like green witch, for those focused on plants, herbs and nature; kitchen witch, for ritual and symbolism woven into cooking and the home; hedge witch, generally tied to solitary practice and spirit or nature work; ceremonial witch or magician, for highly structured ritual work; and eclectic witch, for someone who draws from several traditions at once. There’s no Vatican of witchcraft issuing membership cards, which is a large part of why the word can mean radically different things to different people. That same lack of central authority extends to the vocabulary witches use for their own work. One of the oldest popular distinctions is between “white magic” and “black magic,” though neither historians nor modern practitioners agree on one fixed definition for either. White magic generally describes practices meant to heal, protect or help: a protection ritual, burning herbs or incense, an amulet, a divination, or a spell aimed at love, prosperity or good fortune. Black or dark magic generally refers to magic meant to harm, dominate, curse, manipulate or control someone else; historically, accusations of harmful sorcery have included curses, hexes and supposed attempts to cause illness, misfortune or death. The line between the two blurs almost immediately. Is a spell meant to make someone fall in love benevolent because it concerns love, or harmful because it supposedly overrides another person’s will? Is a ritual asking for an enemy to get “what they deserve” protection, revenge or both? Different traditions answer those questions differently. It’s also worth noting that “white” and “black” here traditionally describe supposed benevolent versus harmful magic, not race, though many contemporary practitioners dislike the terms regardless and prefer language like protective, healing, baneful or harmful magic instead. Neither category should be confused with Satanism: witchcraft and Satanism aren’t synonyms, some witches are religious and some aren’t, and their beliefs can have nothing to do with Satan or Christianity at all. The latest transformation has happened online. Facebook groups now connect people interested in Paganism, Wicca, tarot, herbal traditions and witchcraft, Instagram has produced a highly visual culture of altars, crystals, tarot cards and spiritual businesses, and TikTok’s sprawling collection of witchcraft content became its own phenomenon known as “WitchTok.” 11

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For thousands of years, whenever people have run up against things they couldn’t control — like love, death, illness, weather, fertility, fortune, or whatever might be waiting in the dark — somebody, somewhere, has reached for a little magic. Social media has made these communities far easier to find, but it’s also created a spectacular amount of misinformation. Thousands of years of unrelated cultural traditions blended into a 30-second video promising that a candle, three herbs and the right phase of the moon will fix your love life by Tuesday. The internet didn’t invent humanity’s fascination with magic; it simply gave it an algorithm. Strip away the hashtags, though, and perhaps the most fascinating part of witchcraft isn’t whether anyone believes a spell actually works — it’s how dramatically humanity’s relationship with the idea of magic has changed over time. In the ancient world, magical practice could sit comfortably beside religion and medicine. In later European history, an accusation of witchcraft could lead to imprisonment, torture or execution. In popular culture, the witch became the green-faced villain, the old woman stirring a cauldron, the mysterious figure living at the edge of town. And then she changed again: today she might be a Wiccan observing seasonal festivals, a solitary practitioner tending an herb garden, someone poring over centuries-old occult texts, a tarot reader on Instagram, or simply a person drawn to the history and symbolism surrounding magic. Humanity went from carving magical words into ancient tablets to arguing about spells in Facebook groups, but the basic fascination has remained remarkably stubborn. For thousands of years, whenever people have run up against things they couldn’t control — like love, death, illness, weather, fertility, fortune, or whatever might be waiting in the dark — somebody, somewhere, has reached for a little magic. The tools have changed, the witch has changed and our fascination with her never has.

As we all know, every October, the witch returns, complete with a pointed hat, broomstick, black cat and bubbling cauldron included. But witches didn’t become Halloween icons because of Hollywood. The connection developed over centuries. Halloween was influenced partly by Samhain, an ancient Gaelic seasonal festival marking the transition from harvest into winter. Traditions surrounding Samhain included supernatural beliefs and the idea that the boundary between the human world and the Otherworld was especially significant. Later Christian observances, including All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, also helped shape what eventually became Halloween. The familiar Halloween witch came later. During medieval and early modern Europe, witchcraft became increasingly associated with harmful magic, the devil and secret nighttime gatherings. Folklore eventually added black cats, cauldrons and flying broomsticks to the picture. By the 19th and early 20th centuries, Halloween postcards and decorations had helped establish the classic witch: dressed in black, riding a broom beneath the moon. Movies and television took it from there, giving us everything from the Wicked Witch of the West to “Bewitched,” “The Craft,” the “American Horror Stories: Coven” series and the Sanderson sisters of “Hocus Pocus,” to mention just a few. Today’s practicing witches may have little in common with that spooky caricature, but every October the old-fashioned witch gets her broomstick back. Ghosts, vampires and zombies may share Halloween, but after centuries of folklore, the witch remains one of its undisputed stars.

After researching all of this, of course, I was curious about something else: How did witches become a symbol of Halloween? 13

From the #1 rated NPR show, “Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me!”

SCAN HERE

THE HISTORY OF

ASTROLOGY

Words by Carmen Macri

November 13 7:30PM | WJCT Soundstage For information, tickets, & more visit

WJCT.ORG/EVENTS This is a partnership of Florida Theatre on the Road & WJCT Public Media.

Presented by

PUBLIC MEDIA

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For thousands of years, we’ve looked to the stars for signs or guidance. We’ve put our blind faith in moon cycles, star signs and planetary retrogrades. But why? Where did this unbridled devotion to astrology come from, and how has it lasted the test of time? Whether you read your horoscopes for fun or are an avid zodiac believer, astrology has been a vital part of human culture for centuries.

he roots of Western astrology date back to Mesopotamia around the third millennium BCE (approximately 3,000 BCE), where the Babylonians developed the first organised system of celestial observations. They meticulously tracked the movements of the moon, sun and planets (such as Venus and Mars), viewing them as direct omens or messages from the gods. To them, cosmic moments like eclipses or planetary shifts were directly tied to human affairs and natural disasters. By roughly 600 BCE, they’d pieced together the first-ever horoscope system, scanning the night sky strictly to forecast the rise and fall of kings and empires. One of the most significant contributions of the Babylonians was their division of the celestial sphere into twelve equal segments, establishing the foundation of the modern zodiac. This framework was subsequently adopted by the Greeks and ultimately disseminated worldwide. It wasn’t just the Babylonians, though; ancient Egypt had a massive hand in shaping astrology, too. They used their deep knowledge of the stars to build a calendar grounded in astronomical cycles, tracking specific “decan” stars that rose at exact times through the year to keep cosmic time. On top of that, Egyptian priests played a key role in blending Babylonian astrology with Greek philosophy, laying the groundwork for the traditions we recognize today.

This mismatch frequently sparks debates in the astrology community. If you were to base your sign on what’s actually shining in the sky on your birthday, odds are you aren’t the sign you always thought you were. That sky-anchored approach is known as Sidereal astrology. So, if you were born in November and have always prided yourself on being a Scorpio, sorry to break it to you — the physical constellation probably wasn’t actually behind the Sun when you were born. One of the most compelling questions is: how could seasonal marking constellations and shifting stars actually affect someone’s personality? From a scientific perspective, a huge part of why horoscopes feel so accurate comes down to a well-documented psychological phenomenon known as the Barnum Effect (or Forer Effect). In 1948, psychologist Bertram Forer gave his students a personality test, ignored their answers, and gave everyone the exact same generic description — phrases like “you have a great need for other people to like and admire you” and “while you have some personality weaknesses, you are generally able to compensate for them.”

Greek philosophers were fascinated by astrology and worked to give it a rational framework, connecting celestial movements directly to human personality and destiny. This intellectual shift marked the birth of the personal horoscope. They named the 12 zodiac signs after mythological creatures and linked them with human traits.

When students rated how accurately the description fit them on a scale of 0 to 5, the average rating was 4.26. Astrology descriptions use archetypes that are broad, flexible and flattering enough that our brains naturally cherry-pick the traits that apply to us and ignore the rest.

A major turning point came from Claudius Ptolemy, a Greco-Egyptian scholar who penned the Tetrabiblos — arguably the most influential astrological text in history. Ptolemy helped solidify the zodiac structure and planetary rules that astrologers still rely on today.

But interestingly enough, science shows that the month or season you are born in can subtly influence your personality, less through the constellations and more through environmental and biological factors.

Many ancient religions, rather than separating the belief from the science, heavily intertwined the two. But during the rise of monotheistic faiths like Christianity and Islam, astrology became a subject of intense controversy. While some religious authorities condemned it as a challenge to divine sovereignty, others embraced it as a legitimate tool for deciphering the mechanics of God’s creation.

From an astrological standpoint, rather than personality being caused by gravitational pulls or beams of starlight, the signs are symbolic mirrors. Ancient astrologers looked at the natural rhythm of the Earth and assigned human traits to match.

The Zodiacs Originally, the zodiac signs were mapped to the constellations where the sun appeared during specific times of the year. When ancient Greek astronomers codified the system, the sun’s passage into Aries signaled the arrival of spring (hence Aries starting on the Spring equinox). However, due to the Earth’s axial wobble — known as precession — the constellations have slowly drifted over the last two millennia. While Western astrology has stayed anchored to the solar calendar and seasons, the actual night sky has moved on.

Since Aries falls at the beginning of Spring, a time of new growth, melting ice and pent-up energy, naturally, the personality archetype became bold, impulsive and pioneering. Scorpio falls in late Autumn when the leaves fall, the days grow short and dark, and nature pulls inward to survive the winter. So, naturally, the archetype became secretive, intense and deeply emotional. Over thousands of years, these archetypes have been redefined and culturally reinforced. When you read a description of your sign, you are tapping into a collective narrative that humans have been building and fine-tuning for a millennium.

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Words by Teresa Spencer

Photos by Aaron Berkshire

THREE GAMES IN, THESE JAGUARS ARE GIVING DUVAL SOMETHING TO ROAR ABOUT Three games into the 2026 season, the Jacksonville Jaguars have already given Duval a little bit of everything: a blowout win, a frustrating road loss and, on Sunday, the kind of beatdown that makes an entire city start paying attention.

Jacksonville dismantled the defending AFC champion New England Patriots 35–6 Sunday at EverBank Stadium, improving to 2–1 and emphatically answering questions left behind after the previous week’s loss in Denver. The Jaguars have now won 10 of their last 11 regular-season games dating back to last season. And this one wasn’t particularly close. Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdown passes, Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez Jr. each ran for touchdowns, and a Jaguars defense that had something to prove made life miserable for New England. Jacksonville forced three turnovers, including two interceptions of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, while holding New England without a touchdown. Travis Hunter delivered one of the biggest defensive moments of the afternoon. With New England threatening near the goal line late in the first half, Hunter intercepted Maye in the end zone for his first NFL interception, helping preserve Jacksonville’s 14–3 halftime lead. By the end of the third quarter, that lead had ballooned to 28–3. Perhaps most encouraging was how Jacksonville did it. The Jaguars ran effectively, played physical defense and got production from throughout the roster. Tuten led the ground game with 73 yards and a touchdown, while Rodriguez added 37 yards and another score. Lawrence finished with 182 passing yards and three touchdowns, spreading those scores among Josh Cameron, Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington. Through three games, Jacksonville has scored 82 points while allowing just 36. The Jaguars are 2–0 at EverBank Stadium, winning those games by a combined score of 69–16. The lone blemish is a seven-point road loss in Denver that Jacksonville led by 10 points in the second half. There is plenty of football left, and three games are nowhere near enough to determine what this team ultimately becomes. But the early returns are difficult to ignore. Jacksonville has shown it can score, create turnovers, run the football and, perhaps most importantly, rebound from a bad Sunday with a very good one. For a team that spent much of last season proving it could win close games, Sunday showed something different: Jacksonville can apparently bring a sledgehammer, too. The season started with a similar statement. In Week 1, the Jaguars welcomed Cleveland to Jacksonville and promptly sent the Browns home with a 34–10 loss. Lawrence was nearly flawless, completing 18 of 23 passes for 245 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Jacksonville jumped ahead 14–0 in the first quarter and never gave Cleveland much reason to believe a comeback was coming. Then came Denver. The Jaguars led the Broncos 13–3 during the third quarter in Week 2 before watching the game unravel. Denver scored 17 unanswered points and Jacksonville left Colorado with a 20–13 loss. Lawrence finished with 189 passing yards, no touchdowns and an interception as an offense that had looked explosive against Cleveland suddenly struggled to finish drives. That made Sunday important. Not because a Week 3 game determines a season — it certainly doesn’t — but because good teams have to respond when things go sideways. Jacksonville didn’t simply respond against New England. It steamrolled a team that represented the AFC in last season’s Super Bowl. 18 Folio Weekly

Next comes another road test. The Jaguars head to Cincinnati on Oct. 4 to face the Bengals before crossing the Atlantic for back-to-back games in London against Philadelphia and AFC South rival Houston. Hanging 35 points on the defending AFC champs while allowing only six? Happy to say that we all have a good reason to enjoy the heck out of Victory Monday.

October is stacked for Northeast Florida sports. The Jaguars are taking their show across the Atlantic, the Icemen are dropping the puck on a new season, Sporting JAX has both its men’s and women’s teams in action, and our local college programs are deep into their fall schedules. Add college basketball, running, soccer, volleyball, football, hockey and a triathlon, and there’s plenty to keep local sports fans busy.

20 Folio Weekly

Photo by Aaron Berkshire

OCT. 3 Pink Up the Pace 5K The annual run returns to downtown St. Augustine with proceeds supporting breast cancer awareness and early detection. pinkupthepace.com Edward Waters Football vs. Kentucky State The Tigers host Kentucky State for a Saturday afternoon matchup. Nathaniel Glover Community Field & Stadium ewutigerpride.com UNF Men’s Soccer vs. Central Arkansas Hodges Stadium unfospreys.com OCT. 4 Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cincinnati Bengals The Jaguars hit the road to face Cincinnati before beginning their two-game London stretch. Cincinnati jaguars.com OCT. 9 Jacksonville Icemen vs. Savannah Ghost Pirates (preseason) The Icemen get an early look at nearby rival Savannah before the regular season begins. Community First Igloo jacksonvilleicemen.com Sporting JAX Women vs. DC Power FC Sporting JAX’s women continue their Gainbridge Super League fall season at home. Hodges Stadium sportingjax.com OCT. 10 Run Up for Heroes 5K & 10K Runners and walkers take to the streets around the Downtown riverfront, with both 5K and 10K distances. USS Orleck runfloridarun.com

DONNA 5K at TPC Sawgrass The annual 5K combines one of Northeast Florida’s best-known golf settings with the fight against breast cancer. TPC Sawgrass thedonnafoundation.org Edward Waters Volleyball vs. Benedict College Adams-Jenkins Community Sports & Music Complex ewutigerpride.com OCT. 11 Game On! St. Augustine Fall Triathlon Athletes can tackle several formats, including Olympic and sprint triathlons, duathlons, relays and aquabike competition. Vilano Beach Oceanfront Park, St. Augustine gameonraceevents.com Amelia Island Half Marathon Runners take on a fall half marathon through Amelia Island. Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach ameliaislandhalf.com Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Philadelphia Eagles Jacksonville begins its annual London stay against Philadelphia. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London jaguars.com Edward Waters Volleyball vs. Allen University Adams-Jenkins Community Sports & Music Complex ewutigerpride.com OCT. 13 Edward Waters Volleyball vs. Fort Valley State Adams-Jenkins Community Sports & Music Complex ewutigerpride.com UNF Men’s Soccer vs. College of Charleston Hodges Stadium unfospreys.com OCT. 16 Jacksonville Icemen vs. South Carolina Stingrays The Icemen officially open the 2026–27 regular season at home. VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena jacksonvilleicemen.com

Sporting JAX Women vs. Fort Lauderdale United FC Hodges Stadium sportingjax.com UNF Volleyball vs. Stetson UNF Arena unfospreys.com Jacksonville University Volleyball vs. FGCU Swisher Gymnasium judolphins.com OCT. 17 Jacksonville University Volleyball vs. Stetson Swisher Gymnasium judolphins.com UNF Volleyball vs. FGCU UNF Arena unfospreys.com Jacksonville University Men’s Soccer vs. Bellarmine Southern Oak Stadium judolphins.com UNF Men’s Soccer vs. Queens Hodges Stadium unfospreys.com Jacksonville Icemen vs. Savannah Ghost Pirates Enmarket Arena, Savannah jacksonvilleicemen.com OCT. 18 Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans The Jaguars’ second consecutive London game brings an AFC South matchup against Houston. Wembley Stadium, London jaguars.com Florida Gators vs. Baylor Bears Florida and Baylor meet in a preseason men’s college basketball exhibition in Jacksonville. VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena floridagators.com UNF Women’s Soccer vs. Jacksonville University The River City Rumble puts Jacksonville’s two Division I programs head-to-head. Hodges Stadium unfospreys.com 21

OCT. 20 Jacksonville University Men’s Soccer vs. Mercer Southern Oak Stadium judolphins.com

Annabella suffered a meniscus tear but thanks to Injury Care Centers & our Biotarget Therapy she was back on the field in only 3 weeks.

OCT. 21 Sporting JAX Men vs. Louisville City FC Sporting JAX hosts Louisville City in USL Championship action. Hodges Stadium sportingjax.com

TARGETED TREATMENTS RAPID RECOVERY

OCT. 22 UNF Women’s Soccer vs. Stetson Hodges Stadium unfospreys.com Jacksonville University Women’s Soccer vs. FGCU Southern Oak Stadium judolphins.com

904-549-5647 gobiotarget.com

OCT. 23 Jacksonville University Volleyball vs. Queens Swisher Gymnasium judolphins.com JU Men’s Lacrosse Alumni Game Current Dolphins square off against former JU players during Homecoming weekend. Rock Stadium judolphins.com Sporting JAX Women at Lexington SC Lexington Sporting Club Stadium, Kentucky sportingjax.com Jacksonville Icemen vs. Greenville Swamp Rabbits Bon Secours Wellness Arena, South Carolina

jacksonvilleicemen.com OCT. 24 Edward Waters Football vs. Clark Atlanta Nathaniel Glover Community Field & Stadium

Jacksonville University Baseball vs. Mercer John Sessions Stadium judolphins.com Jacksonville University Volleyball vs. West Florida Swisher Gymnasium judolphins.com UNF Volleyball vs. Queens UNF Arena unfospreys.com Jacksonville Icemen vs. Savannah Ghost Pirates Enmarket Arena, Savannah jacksonvilleicemen.com UNF Women’s Soccer vs. FGCU Hodges Stadium unfospreys.com Jacksonville University Women’s Soccer vs. Stetson Southern Oak Stadium judolphins.com OCT. 31 Jacksonville Icemen vs. Atlanta Gladiators VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena jacksonvilleicemen.com UNF Women’s Soccer at Jacksonville University Southern Oak Stadium unfospreys.com Sporting JAX Women vs. Brooklyn FC Hodge’s Stadium sportingjax.com Jacksonville University Men’s Soccer vs. FGCU Southern Oak Stadium judolphins.com

ewutigerpride.com

Folio independently compiled and edited this calendar using publicly available team, university, league and event schedules. Sports schedules can change because of television, weather, venue conflicts and other circumstances, so confirm game times and locations with the team or event organizer before heading out. 22 Folio Weekly

A Brush with History While reading an online news publication put out by my hometown radio station back in southern Illinois, I ran across an article very deservedly praising the accomplishments of the long-serving past president of the United States Baseball Federation, Robert “Ish” Smith. Smith, who had passed away recently, was being recognized as a pioneer in amateur baseball and as being instrumental in introducing baseball to the Olympics. The article cited many of Smith’s global accomplishments and added that he likely was the only person from the county to meet Fidel Castro. Words by Todd Brown Todd Brown retired from the U.S. Department of State after 35 years, serving most of those years in countries outside the United States. He now resides in Fernandina Beach, Florida, with his wife, Soodi, and English bulldog, Dinki.

It immediately struck me that Smith would not have been the only person from my small rural Illinois county to meet Castro. My father played six years of minor league baseball, primarily in the Phillies organization. Looking through his scrapbooks as a kid, I routinely saw a picture of his good friend and former high school teammate, Larry Novak, standing next to Castro on the field while in uniform. I knew very little of Novak beyond that he and my father both signed professional baseball contracts after graduating from Pocahontas (Illinois) High School. With my interest now piqued, I began researching Novak and Cuban baseball and was surprised to learn of the significance of the final full season of minor league baseball in Cuba and Novak’s impact on how it would end. Novak’s Havana Sugar Kings, a Cincinnati Reds affiliate in the Triple-A International League, squared off against the Minnesota Millers of the American Association, a Red Sox affiliate,

in the Junior World Series in October 1959. Due to frigid conditions and low attendance in Minneapolis, the final four games of the seven-game series were played in Havana’s famous El Gran Stadium. The game featured many players who would go on to play and manage in the Major Leagues, including Cy Young Award winner Mike Cuellar and Cookie Rojas for the Sugar Kings, and 18-yearold Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski and Gene Mauch for the Millers. Castro, in army fatigues and wearing his ever-present sidearm, appeared on the field before each game greeting players. It was a charged atmosphere with armed revolutionaries, including Che Guevara, positioned throughout the stadium and even in the dugout. A New York Times article reported that the number of machine guns likely outnumbered baseball bats.

Rochester were grazed by bullets while standing on the field during a game. As relations with the U.S. continued to deteriorate and Castro’s intentions became more evident, minor league baseball made the decision to pull the Sugar Kings out of Havana midway through the 1960 season. The team initially relocated to Newark, New Jersey, before landing in Jacksonville, Florida, and becoming the Jacksonville Suns in 1962. Ironically, two brothers, Dave and Joe Melosi, also Pocahontas High School teammates of Novak, would briefly own the Suns in the late 1970s.

While his love of baseball may have humanized Fidel Castro to some extent, his stranglehold on the island resulted in innumerable tragedies that are still carried by generations of Cubans today. Meeting Castro is not to be celebrated, though encountering him is a snapshot of historical relevance. As I pass by the Florida House Inn near my home in Fernandina Beach and view the plaque in tribute to Cuban patriot José Martí, who took up residence at the inn in the late 1800s, I am reminded of what possibly could have been. In addition to better lives and greater freedom for the Cuban Larry Novak (sixth from right), Jim Brown (father people, maybe they even of the writer, fourth from right), and kneeling on could have fulfilled the dream of Sugar the left, Dave and Joe Melosi, former owners of the Kings owner Bobby Maduro of one day Jacksonville Suns. having a major league team in Havana. The series went to a seventh game, with the Sugar Kings trailing in the eighth inning by two runs until Novak’s pinch-hit single tied the game. The Sugar Kings went on to score a run in the ninth to win the series, setting off pandemonium throughout the island. Several Millers players reported acts of intimidation during their stay in Cuba and were relieved to leave Havana the next day. Minor league baseball had been keeping a close eye on the situation since Castro seized power in January 1959. During the 1959 regular season, two visiting Novak with Castro during the 1959 series International League players from

between Havana and Minneapolis.

Where to Shop

y i c W t h

Earth Gifts 1951 Stimson St. Earth Gifts specifically describes itself as a spiritual and metaphysical store carrying goods used for rituals and spells. You can find more than 200 herbs along with candles, incense, oils, crystals, minerals, tarot items, books, jewelry and statuary. The Jacksonville Pagan Pride Alliance also lists it among the area’s metaphysical shops. earthgiftsjax.com The Mystic Card Spiritual Boutique 312 W. Eighth St. This shop carries tarot and oracle cards, candles, oils, incense, stones and other spiritual supplies, and also hosts readings, classes and events. Jacksonville Pagan Pride notes that it has hosted a Witchy Market and Psychic Fair. instagram.com/the_mystic_card Meta Earth 1754 N. Main St. One of Folio’s newer distribution locations, Meta Earth specializes heavily in rocks, minerals and crystals, but also carries metaphysical products. It’s a good stop for readers whose practice or interests lean toward crystals, stones and related spiritual tools. metaearthjax.com Midnight Sun 1055 Park St. A longtime Five Points institution with an eclectic mix of crystals, herbs, incense, jewelry and apothecary products. It’s less of a dedicated “witch store” and more of the sort of wonderfully weird Jacksonville shop where someone can find plenty of ingredients for a witchy cabinet. midnightsun.net

Spiritual Uplifts 2039 Mound St. This Clay County option carries crystals and gemstones, herbs, candles, oils, incense, tarot decks, books and jewelry. It also offers readings, workshops and other metaphysical experiences. spiritualuplifts.com My Cauldron Too 58 Spanish St. Located in historic St. Augustine, My Cauldron Too carries dried herbs, teas, crystals, incense, candles, tarot and oracle decks, books, and ritual and altar supplies. mycauldron.com The Alchemist Metaphysical Boutique 247 San Marco Ave. This shop offers crystals, herbs, candles, incense, tarot and oracle cards, and other metaphysical supplies. The shop is also scheduled to participate in St. Augustine’s October 2026 Mystic Faire. Sage & Crystals, LLC St. Augustine 106 St. George St. Right in the historic district, this shop focuses on crystals and gemstones, but also carries tarot cards, runes, incense, sage and other metaphysical items. facebook.com/sageandcrystals Sand & Sage Mystic Shoppe Fernandina Beach 1014 Atlantic Ave. Sand & Sage combines a metaphysical shop with an apothecary and wellness feel, carrying crystals, tarot-related items, candles, books, herbs and other spiritual goods. sandandsagemystic.com

St. Augustine’s Mystic Faire is scheduled for Oct. 10, 2026, at the Center for Spiritual Living, 1795 Old Moultrie Road. It offers everything from tarot and oracle readers to crystals, gemstones, herbs, candles, botanicals, spiritual tools and local vendors. 25

ide

u Trivia G

? Grab your smartest friends — or at least the ones who remember obscure movie quotes, '90s music and who won the Super Bowl 20 years ago. Northeast Florida has plenty of places to put that otherwise questionable knowledge to work this October. 26 Folio Weekly

Mondays

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Fridays

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Oct. 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30 Time Out Sports Grill — Southside | 6:30 p.m. Mariachiles Mexican Grill — Palatka | 6:30 p.m. MVP’s Sports Grille — Arlington | 7 p.m.

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Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31 Dick’s Wings & Grill — San Pablo | 7 p.m.

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Oct. 4, 11, 18 & 25 Posting House — San Marco | 6 p.m. Dart Bar — Riverside | 7 p.m.

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Saturdays

Sundays

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Special October Trivia Events

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Trivia on the Tributary — Oct. 9 Myrtle Avenue Brewing | Jacksonville | Social hour at 6 p.m.; trivia at 7 p.m. | $5 A special trivia fundraiser benefiting the St. Johns Riverkeeper, including general trivia and a round devoted to the river.

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Masquerade Trivia Night — Oct. 17 Christ the King Parish | 742 Arlington Road, Jacksonville | 5 p.m. | 18+ A special masquerade-themed trivia night. Tickets are $35 per person or $250 for a table of eight.

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Guess That Groove — Oct. 21 The Citrus Club at The Grove | Orange Park | 6–8 p.m. A music-focused trivia game that tests how quickly players can recognize songs from different eras and genres.

Thursdays

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Folio compiled this guide from publicly available venue and event information and independently edited the listings for our readers. Recurring trivia nights are particularly prone to schedule changes, cancellations and special-event interruptions. Confirm the date and time directly with the venue before heading out. Now assemble the team. And remember: arguing confidently about an answer does not actually make it correct — although that has never stopped a good trivia team.

Have a favorite trivia spot? Let us know! team@folioweekly.com

The

Haunted Mansion Ride Is Coming to Avondale

It’s official, fall is here. Though the leaves have yet to coat the streets and the temperature still soars in the 80s, the calendar says the new season has begun, so it has. With this new season and many Floridians trying to attain any semblance of a cozy fall feeling, creating the essence of autumn is imperative. Many do this by indulging in pumpkin spice lattes and rewatching their favorite early 2000s comfort shows, but there is one family in the Avondale neighborhood that truly encapsulates fall with their Halloween display. If you have ever visited Avondale during any time of the year, you may have had to park in the street behind the main shops at one time or another. The parking situation is especially lacking on a Saturday when Southern Grounds is so packed you have to stand and drink your coffee, so this street is usually the best option. On this street, Pine Street, sits one house, as picturesque and charming as the others. This is a house that on any given day, in any other month, would blend right into the dreamlike landscape of the neighborhood. But during October, this house puts on a display unlike any other. It is something one has to see in person, an immersive, amusement-park-like marvel in the middle of this Jacksonville neighborhood. The difference with this display is every year it has a new theme. The first year I stumbled across it, the theme was “Hocus Pocus.”

Words by Ariana Alcantara

They dressed the house straight out of the 1993 film, complete with the Sanderson Museum of Witchcraft, housing many magical potions, spells and the treasured Sanderson spellbook. On the other side of the yard was the Salem cemetery, with a forlorn Billy Butcherson and, of course, Binx, the immortal black cat watching over. This family recreates every detail right in their front yard, and somehow they outdo themselves every year. Last year the theme was “Toy Story,” where they made Andy’s bedroom into a larger-than-life experience, complete with everyone’s favorite toys: Woody, Buzz Lightyear and, of course, the little green aliens. Over the years, the family has done “Harry Potter”, “Coco” and “Encanto”, among others. Outside and throughout the displays, signs can be seen to donate to charity. Each year the family posts signs and QR codes for a different charitable cause, encouraging visitors to donate, though it is not required to view the display. Previous charities they supported include No More Homeless Pets and Toys for Tots. As of now, when I am writing this article, the display is not yet up, but the family confirmed that visitors can expect to see the display in the next two weeks. This year’s theme will be the Haunted Mansion ride, so for those looking for a little extra spook this season, you don’t want to miss it. 29

‘The Americana Revolution’

ROOTS RADIO HAS LANDED ON THE SONIC PLANET

Listen at www.thesonicplanet.com

Folio Weed

High

Cannabis, Halloween and the Ancient Rituals of the Harvest Long before Halloween meant plastic skeletons, fun-size Snickers and somebody wandering through Five Points dressed as a sexy version of something that was never supposed to be sexy, autumn was a season loaded with superstition. For ancient agricultural societies, the end of the harvest meant shorter days, colder nights and the uncomfortable reminder that winter — and death — were coming. Festivals developed around harvests, ancestors, spirits, fire and the changing seasons. Cannabis, meanwhile, has its own ancient history as medicine, fiber, food and, in some cultures, a ritual or intoxicating plant. So did ancient pagans celebrate Halloween by passing around a prehistoric joint? Not exactly. That version makes a great T-shirt, but the history is considerably more interesting. Halloween’s deepest commonly cited ancestor is Samhain, the Gaelic seasonal festival marking the transition from summer into winter. It became associated with folklore, supernatural beings, divination and a period when boundaries between the ordinary and otherworldly seemed unusually thin. Many of the customs that eventually contributed to Halloween developed and changed over centuries, particularly after Christian observances such as All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day entered the picture. Cannabis has an equally old — but geographically broader — relationship with humanity. Archaeological evidence shows people were cultivating and using cannabis thousands of years ago. One particularly fascinating discovery came from roughly 2,500-year-old burials in western China, where researchers found evidence that cannabis with relatively high levels of psychoactive compounds had been burned in wooden braziers during mortuary ceremonies. Whatever else was happening around those fires, this wasn’t somebody making rope. Cannabis also developed important religious associations in parts of Asia, particularly within some Hindu traditions, where preparations made from cannabis became connected with religious practice and festivals. Across different times and places, psychoactive plants were sometimes incorporated into healing, divination, funerary ceremonies or attempts to communicate with the spiritual world.

Words by Teresa Spencer

Spirits That does not mean cannabis was a standard feature of Samhain or that Celtic druids were necessarily getting baked around the bonfire. Evidence for those claims is thin, and modern internet lore happily fills historical gaps with whatever sounds coolest. Ancient people left us plenty of mysteries; we don’t need to roll them in fiction. What we can say is that cannabis and Halloween eventually came to occupy some remarkably similar cultural territory. Both have histories tangled with taboo, changing laws, folk beliefs and society’s complicated relationship with things once considered dangerous or improper. That makes cannabis an oddly appropriate subject for October. For much of the 20th century in the United States, marijuana itself was turned into something resembling a Halloween monster. Propaganda portrayed cannabis users as dangerous, irrational or morally corrupted, while films such as “Reefer Madness” helped cement an exaggerated mythology around the plant. Decades later, medical marijuana is legal in Florida and much of the country has dramatically reconsidered cannabis policy, even as federal and state laws continue to evolve. Perhaps that’s the best Halloween connection of all. Cannabis has spent centuries moving between medicine cabinet, farm field, sacred ceremony, counterculture and criminal law, depending largely upon who was holding it and when. So this Halloween, when the candles are burning, the horror movies are rolling and someone inevitably claims witches invented edibles, enjoy the story — but keep the history straight. Cannabis doesn’t need a supernatural origin story. Its real relationship with humanity is already strange enough. Happy Halloween, Folio stoners. Stay spooky — and leave the ancient druids out of your dispensary receipt.

32 Folio Weekly

Design by Elliot Henry

A NEW ERA FOR FIVE POINTS

THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT THAT FIVE POINTS HAS BEEN IN THE PROCESS OF AN AWKWARD TRANSITION. OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, SEVERAL BUSINESSES HAV E CLOSED WHILE NEW ONES HAVE SPROUTED AND EVEN TAKEN ROOT. THE BUILDINGS THEMSELV ES REMAIN THE SAME, BUT THE BUSINESSES OCCUPYING THEM HAVE CLEARLY BEEN RECAST. A PLACE THAT WAS SO FAMILIAR FOR SO MANY HAS QUICKLY BECOME UNFAMILIAR; THE CHA RACTER AND NATURE OF FIVE POINTS HAS CHANGED. BY ELLIOT HENRY

Two years ago, Folio’s Ambar Ramirez took a look at an ailing Five Points, a commercial district stripped of its entertainment anchor, Sun-Ray Cinema. The time was dark for the area; businesses were closing down across the strip, such as Alewife Bottle Shop, Mixed Fillings Pie Shop, Corner Taco, Rain Dogs, Wall Street Lounge and others. Some were able to outlast this depression, but many succumbed to economic forces. In the years to follow, others would also succumb, such as Prospect Five Points Bar and Mossfire Grill. In their place, new faces have introduced themselves: Bartaco has taken the place of the former Black Sheep Restaurant. FIVE, a music venue, has taken the place of Sun-Ray. Tweeds has entered the market as a custom suit shop. Ben & Jerry’s now has a place on the strip, and there are at least three new faces coming in the near future: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Dalmoros and Fat Tuesday. Once Jeni’s opens too, there will be three different ice cream shops, including Ben & Jerry’s and Waffle Cone, all within a less-than-twominute walk of each other.

People are what make the place, and so long as they keep coming, Five Points could maintain much of its charm. Sydney Holmes, a server who used to work at Mossfire Grill, explained that “the old and funky Five Points identity seems to be evolving into something more organized and polished with chain restaurants and such versus small businesses. That really brings a lot of tension between people wanting to preserve the grungy, independent, quirky neighborhood character and others wanting a cleaner, safer and more structured commercial district. I hope we can eventually meet in the middle: have a beautiful part of Jacksonville that’s funky and fun, but also safe and unique.” Holmes also made the point that things change. Locals who once frequented the area in their youth have grown up. People are mourning what once was without accepting that change is inevitable. “That’s just life, isn’t it?” Holmes stated.

A running throughline appears to be the introduction of a much more polished, corporate and chain aesthetic. Independent establishments still exist, but a district that was once prized for its independent and local culture has begun to fade. The character is clearly changing. For every new local business, more corporate interests move in. The new Ben & Jerry’s is even advertising that they are locally owned, using it as a selling point when their facade is so clearly following corporate standards.

“I don’t think Five Points is disappearing. I think it’s changing. The city and property owners are actively putting money and infrastructure into the area because they know it’s valuable. But the version of Five Points we’ve been used to may not be the version we’re getting in the future,” Holmes explained. “So I think we’re probably watching Five Points transition from this really gritty, quirky neighborhood hangout into a more polished entertainment and dining district — and the big question is, how much of the original personality survives that transition?”

It largely makes sense: a popular bar and shopping district becoming a site for regional investment — shocker! This isn’t a complaint; vacant storefronts are generally bad for business. New businesses entering the market will ultimately boost foot traffic in the area, helping everyone involved. By no means am I shouting, “Not in my backyard!” like your typical NIMBY. It is just important to note that Five Points is changing — for better or for worse is up for debate.

While it is frustrating to see the loss of so many local businesses, plenty still remain. Given that new businesses are also moving in, viewing the area as a worthwhile investment, momentum is only continuing to build for Five Points. Not to mention, the city also approved a new Business Improvement District (BID) for the area to provide funding for infrastructure and security last October. This BID will continue to help businesses in the area, in turn continuing to help Five Points’ upward trajectory.

When walking around the area, I stopped and chatted with two shoppers outside of 5 Points Vintage. They had just moved back to the area and expressed to me they were looking for something local in town, like Five Points, though they were slightly disappointed by the direction the district seemed to be heading. When referring to certain chains, they pointed out, “That’s what shopping centers are for.”

Some of the new tenants have been able to start assimilating into the culture as well. The music venue FIVE, whose initial introduction was met with a lot of backlash as it displaced Sun-Ray — causing lots of online hysteria — has proven thus far to work itself into the community, attracting many fans of an assortment of performers and bands to come visit and enjoy the other aspects of Five Points.

While speaking to a bartender right next door, she expressed to me that the people who visit are still largely the same, and that that’s what matters. Our economy will follow cyclical patterns, and we are just in the midst of it.

While it is sad to see the loss of independent control, the economic future is looking bright for Five Points. As for the character, only time will tell how Five Points continues to evolve. 33

Film Review

Resident Evil Reaches the Next Level A medical courier finds himself trapped in a city overrun with mutated monsters in this scare-a-minute thrill ride. Words by Harry Straussman

With his third film as a director, after the acclaimed “Barbarian” and “Weapons,” Zach Cregger further cements himself as one of the guys whose work is immediately a mustwatch. Where his previous two films brought pop into elevated horror, his latest shoots off like a roller coaster and doesn’t stop until its final frame. Cregger’s “Resident Evil” is inspired by, rather than directly adapting, the long-running video game series and is a lean, mean scaring machine that refuses to pull any punches and gets grislier than most other horror 34 Folio Weekly

movies would dare to do, all while being one of the funniest movies of the year. Cregger uses his canvas to create grotesque imagery but knows exactly how far to push the envelope without veering into the unseemly, and for a film where nobody is safe whatsoever, that is no mean feat. The story sees Bryan — wonderfully played by the evidently chameleonic Austin Abrams, who reteams with Cregger after his scene-stealing turn in “Weapons” — a burned-out courier whose last job on a snowy night is to take an urgent medical supply to a hospital in the isolated mountain town of Raccoon City.

During his journey, he soon learns that something isn’t right in the city, and must fight to survive against a horde of nightmarish monsters. Cregger doesn’t shy away from wearing his influences on his sleeve. Unsurprisingly, the DNA of the Resident Evil games is all over this film, which feels like the rare video game adaptation not embarrassed by its roots, with several sequences echoing the experience of playing the game, such as rummaging through endless drawers for supplies or coming up against an impenetrable padlock. But the film has the frantic pacing of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” a shade of “Fargo,” and more than a touch of John Carpenter’s “The Thing.” “Resident Evil” is another stellar work from a filmmaker on the dramatic ascent and is immediately the unparalleled gold standard for video game adaptations. A gory and often hilarious entry to the zombie canon that is certain to be a future mainstay of spooky season viewing.

OCT. 1-2 “The Lion in Winter” Theatre Jacksonville theatrejax.com OCT. 1-NOV. 8 “Meet Me in St. Louis Alhambra Theatre & Dining alhambrajax.com

October Story Slam BABS’ LAB barbaracolaciello.com OCT. 9-11 “Dracula” Act II Players actiiplayers.org

“Dracula” Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com

OCT. 9-17 “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” Amelia Musical Playhouse ameliamusicalplayhouse.com

OCT. 2-11 “Avenue Q” Green Light Theatre Company greenlighttheatreco.com

OCT. 9-25 “Once Upon a One More Time” Arts Collective Theatre artscollectivetheatre.com

OCT. 3 “Coraline” in Concert Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com

“Calendar Girls” Orange Park Community Theatre opct.info

OCT. 14 “Telling Amy’s Story” The Waterworks staugustinefilmsociety.org OCT. 15-31 “The Addams Family” Amelia Community Theatre ameliacommunitytheatre.org OCT. 16 “After” The Center for Spiritual Living St. Augustine aclassictheatre.org OCT. 16-31 “Feeding Beatrice” Players by the Sea playersbythesea.org OCT. 16-NOV. 1 “The Addams Family” The Island Theater, Fleming Island theislandtheater.com

Theater & Film OCT. 4 “Plein Soleil” (film) Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, St. Augustine staugustinefilmsociety.org

OCT. 10 Behind the “Scream”: A Live Conversation With David Arquette Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com

OCT. 7 “The Misanthrope” (film) WJCT wjct.org/film

“Til Death Do Us Part: Late Nite Catechism 3” Nathan H. Wilson Center for the Arts fscjartistseries.org

OCT. 8-24 “Antigone Unmasked” The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd lumenrep.org OCT. 9 MJ The Illusion Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts jaxevents.com

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“Night on Broadway” The Island Theater, Fleming Island theislandtheater.com OCT. 11 The Jax Film Salon BABS’ LAB barbaracolaciello.com OCT. 13 “River of Grass” (film) Gamache-Koger Theatre, Flagler College staugustinefilmsociety.org

OCT. 19 The Music of Bob Seger Alhambra Theatre & Dining alhambrajax.com OCT. 20 Garrison Keillor Tonight Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com OCT. 21 “Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue” Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com “Backrooms” (film) MOCA Jacksonville mocajacksonville.unf.edu OCT. 21 “North by Northwest” WJCT wjct.org/film

OCT. 23-25 “The Addams Family” Green Light Theatre Company greenlighttheatreco.com OCT. 23-NOV. 7 “Carrie: The Musical” The 5 & Dime the5anddime.org OCT. 23-NOV. 8 “The Addams Family” Artist Connection Theatre artistconnectiontheatre.org OCT. 24 “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (film) Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com OCT. 25 Circo del Pantano Nathan H. Wilson Center for the Arts jacksonvilledancetheatre.org “The Conformist” (film) Unitarian Universality Fellowship, St. Augustine staugustinefilmsociety.org OCT. 28 “Ghostbusters” in Concert Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com OCT. 29 “Sonic” Live in Concert Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com The Carpenters Songbook: A Live Celebration Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts fscjartistseries.org “Nosferatu” (film) The Waterworks staugustinefilmsociety.org OCT. 29-31 “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” Green Light Theatre Company greenlighttheatreco.com OCT. 31 “Nosferatu,” Scored Live Friday Musicale fridaymusicale.com

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Photo by Courtesy of IFC Films and Shudder - © IFC / Shudder

Opinio

34 Thoughts I Had While Watching “Late Night With the Devil” BY AMBAR RAMIREZ 1. So my Boyfriend is scared of scary movies?? 2. Okay, independent studio budget. 3. Wait, actually, how many studios helped make this movie, my god?? 4. Yeah, I should’ve known this was gonna be set in the 70s. 5. I’m gonna regret letting him in my living room, huh? 6. Bohemian Grove mention!! 7. Not the wife with lung cancer who was a non-smoker. 8. Did the wife really have to die? 9. They don’t make late-night talk shows like this anymore. 10. Let’s go, Christou!! 11. Yeah, Christou gets a standing O for giving some closure. 12. Uh-oh, Christou. 13. Oh, of course we get a non-believer. 14. It’s kind of giving SNL. 15. Are all the people in the live crowd just cool with this? 16. Now why would they bring a child believed to be possessed by the devil on the show? 17. I guess that is the title of the movie. 18. Christou died?! Nooooo. 19. Big fan of how they transition from live TV to the blackand-white behind-the-scenes stuff. 20. Who the f*** is this Car guy? 21. Get Lilly off my screen. 22. Okay, June is a baddie. 23. There are a lot of breaks in this “live” television. 24. Okay, actually, not even trying to be funny, but my TV is acting funky. 25. No one ever listens to the balding, butt-of-the-joke musician. 26. Lilly is creepier than Mr. Wriggles. 27. Can’t wait for Mr. Car to try and call this fake. 28. And some more messages! I also don’t have ad-free Disney Plus so getting a lot of breaks. 29. There’s no way he could hypnotize the whole audience. 30. Yeah, I bet you’re a believer now, Car. 31. I’m not entirely convinced this isn’t a comedy. 32. Well, Mr. Wriggles is free. Now what? 33. So this movie just confirmed the Bohemian Grove is real? 34. Oh word.

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OCT. 1 THE DEVIL MADE ME WATCH IT

31 NIGH

TERR

“The Exorcist” (1973) + “The Conjuring” (2013)

Folio’s October Doublemovies. 31 nights. Sleep

We aren’t easing into October. We’re kicking down the door with two generations of demonic horror. “The Exorcist” remains the gold standard for possession movies, while “The Conjuring” takes the haunted-house formula and makes clapping hands, dark corners and old furniture terrifying again. Turn off the lights if you insist. Just don’t blame us when something moves upstairs.

OCT. 2 STATIC ON THE SCREEN

BY TERESA

OCT. 3 LET’S PLAY A GAME

“The Ring” (2002) + “Poltergeist” (1982)

“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974) + “Saw” (2004)

Before streaming, apparently television could straight-up murder you. “Poltergeist” turned TV static into nightmare fuel, while “The Ring” introduced American audiences to a cursed videotape and one seriously disturbing little girl. Watch them together and you’ll never look at an innocent black television screen quite the same way.

Two movies separated by 30 years and united by an alarming amount of hardware. “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” feels sweaty, grimy and almost dangerously real, while “Saw” traps its characters inside Jigsaw’s sadistic moral experiments. Together, they make an excellent argument for staying home and avoiding abandoned buildings altogether.

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OCT. 5 DON’T WATCH THE HOME

HTS OF

MOVIES

ROR

-Feature Challenge: 62 p is apparently optional.

A SPENCER

OCT. 4 CULT CLASSICS AFTER DARK

“Sinister” (2012) + “Hereditary” (2018) Two families discover that something profoundly wrong has followed them home. “Sinister” uses disturbing home movies to slowly tighten the noose, while “Hereditary” transforms family grief into a suffocating supernatural nightmare. Neither film is interested in letting you feel comfortable, and both have images you’ll wish you could unsee.

OCT. 6 CANCEL THE WEEKEND GETAWAY

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975) + “The Lost Boys” (1987)

“The Rental” (2020) + “The Strangers” (2008)

Tonight we trade pure terror for gloriously weird cult horror. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” gives us Frank-N-Furter, fishnets and perhaps cinema’s strangest house party. Then “The Lost Boys” delivers vampires, motorcycles, ‘80s hair and enough attitude to make eternal damnation look suspiciously fun. Costumes strongly encouraged.

Two couples. One secluded rental. Terrible idea. “The Rental” taps into the modern fear that someone may be watching you inside a vacation property, while “The Strangers” strips home-invasion horror down to three masks, a knock at the door and absolutely nowhere safe to hide.

OCT. 7 FOUND FOOTAGE NIGHT

OCT. 9 STEPHEN KING SAYS STAY HOME

“The Blair Witch Project” (1999) + “Paranormal Activity” (2007)

“The Shining” (1980) + “Misery” (1990)

Neither movie needed enormous budgets because your imagination does most of the work. “The Blair Witch Project” makes getting lost in the woods increasingly unbearable, while “Paranormal Activity” proves a bedroom camera and an open doorway can be terrifying. Suddenly every unexplained noise in your house deserves an investigation.

One writer gets trapped in a massive hotel. Another gets trapped with his biggest fan. Neither writing retreat goes according to plan. Jack Nicholson’s descent into madness followed by Kathy Bates’ unforgettable Annie Wilkes makes this an absolutely brutal psychological double bill.

OCT. 8 BAD SUPERNATURAL DECISIONS

OCT. 10 CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM HELL

“Talk to Me” (2022) + “Smile” (2022)

“Psycho” (1960) + “One Hour Photo” (2002)

Teenagers treating spirit possession like a party trick goes about as well as you’d expect in “Talk to Me.” Then “Smile” turns an ordinary human expression into something deeply wrong. Both are modern horror successes that combine jump scares with grief, trauma and the unsettling realization that evil may be contagious.

Norman Bates runs a motel. Sy Parrish develops family photographs. Both seem quiet enough at first. That’s the problem. “Psycho” established a blueprint for psychological horror, while Robin Williams gives one of his most unsettling performances as a lonely photo technician whose fascination with a customer’s family becomes obsession.

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OCT. 11 INSIDE THE MIND OF A KILLER

OCT. 13 SLASHER ROYALTY

“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) + “Zodiac” (2007)

“Friday the 13th” (1980) + “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)

Forget ghosts tonight. Humans are frightening enough. Clarice Starling enters Hannibal Lecter’s world while hunting Buffalo Bill in “The Silence of the Lambs.” David Fincher’s “Zodiac” then turns an unsolved killing spree into an obsessive, meticulously constructed nightmare. This is suspense that crawls under your skin instead of jumping from behind the couch.

Camp Crystal Lake isn’t safe, and neither is your own bed. “Friday the 13th” helped define the summer-camp slasher, while Wes Craven’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street” gave horror Freddy Krueger and the deeply unfair proposition that sleeping can kill you. Coffee, anyone?

OCT. 12 HELL HATH NO FURY

OCT. 14 WE’RE NOT GOING OUTSIDE

“Carrie” (1976) + “The Craft” (1996)

“Jaws” (1975) + “The Descent” (2005)

High school cruelty meets supernatural retaliation. Sissy Spacek’s Carrie White remains one of horror’s most tragic figures, while “The Craft” brought witchcraft, friendship and teenage alienation roaring into the ‘90s. The takeaway is fairly straightforward: Maybe just don’t bully the girl with supernatural powers.

Steven Spielberg ruined the ocean for an entire generation with “Jaws.” “The Descent” takes care of caves. One delivers an enormous predator beneath open water; the other traps six women underground with something horrifying in the darkness. By midnight, your living room will seem like a perfectly exciting vacation destination.

OCT. 15 SAY HIS NAME — OR DON’T

OCT. 17 CREEPY DOLL NIGHT

“Candyman” (1992) + “The Babadook” (2014)

“Child’s Play” (1988) + “The Boy” (2016)

These aren’t monsters that disappear when the credits roll. “Candyman” builds an intelligent urban nightmare around legend, violence and obsession, while “The Babadook” uses its storybook creature to explore grief and psychological collapse. Both understand that the best monsters often represent something much bigger.

Chucky needs no introduction. Brahms, however, is a porcelain doll whose babysitter is given a list of rules for caring for him. Surely nothing strange will happen there. Watch these backto-back and every doll, mannequin and porcelain figurine in Grandma’s house becomes immediately suspicious.

OCT. 16 MARRIAGE CAN BE MURDER

OCT. 18 I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

“The Invisible Man” (2020) + “Till Death” (2021)

“The Others” (2001) + “The Sixth Sense” (1999)

Two women fight to survive terrifying situations involving controlling men. “The Invisible Man” transforms abuse and gaslighting into a nerve-shredding science-fiction nightmare, while Megan Fox’s “Till Death” begins with an anniversary getaway that turns into a vicious survival game. Date night officially canceled.

Two elegant ghost stories built around atmosphere rather than gore. Nicole Kidman’s enormous darkened house in “The Others” is practically a character itself, while “The Sixth Sense” pairs supernatural terror with genuine emotion. These are the movies for people who want their ghosts accompanied by great storytelling.

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OCT. 19 MODERN PARANOIA

OCT. 21 THE PHONE IS RINGING

“Find Your Friends” (2020) + “Host” (2020)

“The Black Phone” (2021) + “The Lovely Bones” (2009)

Modern horror gets intimate tonight. “Find Your Friends” brings contemporary danger and friendship into the mix, while “Host” turns an online séance into an astonishingly efficient supernatural nightmare. Technology may connect us, but horror filmmakers remain remarkably talented at finding new reasons to unplug it.

These darker supernatural thrillers center on young victims and predators, using the supernatural as a connection between the living and the dead. “The Black Phone” delivers a frightening masked villain and a disconnected telephone that somehow rings, while “The Lovely Bones” approaches loss and justice from a more emotional direction.

OCT. 20 SOMETHING’S WRONG NEXT

OCT. 22 CHILDHOOD NIGHTMARES

DOOR

“House at the End of the Street” (2012) + “Disturbia” (2007)

“IT” (2017) + “The Boogeyman” (2023)

Jennifer Lawrence moves beside a house with a murderous past. Shia LaBeouf begins suspecting his neighbor might be a killer. Both movies turn suburbia into a place where closed curtains, strange noises and overly interesting neighbors deserve your full attention. Neighborhood Watch has officially escalated.

Pennywise makes clowns horrifying in “IT,” while “The Boogeyman” goes straight for that ancient childhood fear that something is hiding where you can’t quite see it. Tonight’s viewing instructions are simple: Check beneath the bed before you start. Check again afterward.

OCT. 23 ‘90S SLASHER NIGHT

OCT. 25 BEAUTIFULLY DISGUSTING

“Scream” (1996) + “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997)

“The Substance” (2024) + “The Fly” (1986)

Ghostface asks whether you like scary movies, while a hook-wielding killer has questions about last summer. “Scream” brilliantly dismantled slasher conventions while simultaneously revitalizing them, and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” helped cement the stylish teen-slasher revival that followed.

Welcome to body-horror night. “The Substance” takes society’s obsession with youth and beauty to grotesque extremes, while David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” remains one of cinema’s great transformation nightmares. Eat dinner before starting this double feature. Consider that Folio’s public-service announcement.

OCT. 24 BAD MEN, WORSE OBSESSIONS

OCT. 26 YOU CAN’T CHEAT FATE

“Cape Fear” (1991) + “Fear” (1996)

“Final Destination” (2000) + “Drag Me to Hell” (2009)

No demons. No ghosts. Just terrifying obsession. Robert De Niro’s Max Cady terrorizes the family of the attorney he blames for his imprisonment in “Cape Fear.” Then “Fear” transforms teenage romance into increasingly dangerous possessiveness. Human monsters get the entire evening.

One group escapes disaster only to discover Death apparently keeps excellent records. Then Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell” unleashes a supernatural curse that refuses to take no for an answer. Both movies share a wonderfully nasty message: Sometimes running only makes the inevitable more creative.

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OCT. 27 JORDAN PEELE DOUBLE FEATURE

OCT. 29 BASED ON A TERRIFYING STORY

“Get Out” (2017) + “Us” (2019)

“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005) + “The Amityville Horror” (1979)

“Get Out” begins with an uncomfortable trip to meet the girlfriend’s family and steadily reveals something far more sinister. “Us” turns a family vacation into a surreal home-invasion nightmare involving terrifying doubles. Jordan Peele understands exactly how long to make an audience laugh before making them deeply uncomfortable.

Both movies draw from stories presented as having real-world origins, though claims surrounding the supernatural aspects remain disputed. “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” combines possession horror with courtroom drama, while “The Amityville Horror” turns an ordinary-looking house into one of horror cinema’s most recognizable addresses.

OCT. 28 HORROR KNOWS IT’S HORROR

OCT. 30 SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY

“The Cabin in the Woods” (2011) + “Scream 2” (1997)

“The Omen” (1976) + “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968)

Tonight, horror turns the camera on itself. “The Cabin in the Woods” takes familiar scary-movie clichés and reveals something wonderfully insane beneath them, while “Scream 2” tackles sequels, copycat killers and horror fandom. Smart, bloody and enormously fun — assuming your definition of fun includes dismemberment.

Parenthood is stressful enough without wondering whether your child is connected to Satan. “Rosemary’s Baby” slowly turns pregnancy and isolation into paranoia, while “The Omen” introduces Damien and a trail of increasingly disturbing events. Consider this the calm, deeply creepy night before Halloween’s bloodbath.

COMES

OCT. 31 HALLOWEEN NIGHT

YOU’RE ALREADY HERE, SO ARE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS.

“Halloween” (1978) + “Trick ‘r Treat” (2007) There was never another serious choice for the first movie. John Carpenter’s “Halloween” turned Michael Myers, Laurie Strode and a simple piano-driven score into horror immortality. Then “Trick ‘r Treat” closes our marathon with an anthology devoted to Halloween traditions, monsters and the consequences of disrespecting the holiday. Turn off the porch light, steal the kids’ Reese’s Cups and finish October properly. 48 Folio Weekly

Email teresa@folioweekly.com or call us at 904-239-5736

WasabiCon: Year 14 October 9-11, 2026 The Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center

Anime+ Cosplay+ Gaming!!

JAX.WasabiCon.com

More than 90,000 square feet of PROGRAMMING SPACE More than 75,000 square feet of EXHIBITORS More than 15,000 ATTENDEES More than 200 HOURS OF CONTENT in 2025 But we're still missing 1 thing:

YOU

50 Folio Weekly

Photos by Simon Coelho

Behind The Scenes of Jacksonville’s 48-Hour Film Project 2026 Words by Ariana Alcantara

The 48-Hour Film Project is a global competition in which contestants must write, produce and edit a film within, you guessed it, 48 hours. For some this sounds like an impossible feat, but for others it’s just another weekend. Here in Jacksonville, more and more people are registering to compete in the project every year, so if you saw any camera crews scattered around the city between Sept. 18 and 20, this is what they were up to. Adam and Monique Madrid are the city producers of the competition, organizing and executing the mechanics of the festival. They kick off at the Jesse Building downtown, collecting the group leaders to pull genres from a box and assign the required elements. There are multiple groups competing, and they all have to have three elements of their film in common: a character, a prop and a line. This year the character was Carrie/Carl Russell, a personal assistant; the prop needed was an umbrella; and the required line was “Am I Dreaming?”

Below is one perspective of what it’s like to compete in the project. My friends and I first entered in 2025, with only one having previously done it. This year we had a better understanding of what we were getting ourselves into, but it was still just as intense. The chaos began at 7 p.m. on Sept. 18. We got our assigned genre — either film noir, romantic comedy or a mix of the two. Our team was already buzzing with excitement: film noir, we could do that.

Our group leader, Kaleb Mernagh, volunteered his house as headquarters, so we all met there to begin the writing process. About 15 of us settled in this historic Springfield house, fueled by Red Bull and naive optimism, to write our noir film. This is the point, one hour in, where we got our reality check. The idea of writing a script sounds great before one has to actually do it. Luckily, we were a team of University of North Florida graduates trained in documentary filmmaking and creatives with a few screws loose. A slew of ideas poured in, all anchored with the required character, the assistant. Some ideas we liked but were too ambitious, like “Hitch but it’s noir” and “A young straight-edge cop leaves the force after he uncovers a conspiracy cover-up of a missing-persons case. He becomes a private detective, and his personal assistant, Carl, seems very helpful at first until the dark truth is revealed: Carl is the murderer.” We loved these ideas, but they presented issues like how to make Hitch a noir and where to get a cop car.

Eventually, we agreed on a psychological noir about a mysterious door, a femme fatale widow and an angsty assistant with nothing to lose. By the end of the night, around 3 a.m., we had a loose script, our cast of characters and no idea how to execute any of it. It was around this time that I started having Hitchcockian hallucinations and decided to call it a night. We got a late start to the next day since most stayed up until dawn half writing and half dazed. 51

The start was a strong one, though, as our costume designer, Anna Leist, rolled in her giant chest full of vintage clothes for our actors to sift through. We had 1940s-era slip dresses, pantsuits, maxi dresses and hats. Some of the dresses looked like they could have belonged to Marilyn Monroe and some to Audrey Hepburn. While the actors solidified their wardrobe, the rest of us plotted our day. Kaleb called around Jacksonville scouting classic cars, I got carried away with the script, and our sound engineer, Jonathan “Spidey” Arachnid, set up our equipment. The clock was ticking, and we weren’t fully ready to shoot until midday, way past schedule. The team piled into our cars and we set off for our locations. I had to work, so I missed the classic car scene, but I met up with everyone at the next spot. Kaleb’s mother’s house served as our Victorian estate owned by the femme fatale. The home was immaculately designed, like the interior of a haunted mansion. We stayed there for far too long trying to execute one shot of our protagonist smoking a cigarette with these fake cigarettes Anna made. By now the sun had set, and it was time to start editing. Simon Coelho was assigned to be our main editor, so much of the team clocked out while he clocked in. With Simon working on the scenes we had thus far, a group of us were sent out to downtown Springfield for our “Dark Night of the Soul” scene. After hours struggling with equipment dying, missing parts and interruptions from Springfield bar hoppers, we returned to headquarters defeated. It was past midnight. The film was due today. We wouldn’t have another night to get this scene, so no matter how tired we were, we had to go back out to reshoot. For those of us who were able to sleep on night two, we arrived ready to film, only to find that we really did not know what we were shooting that day. Simon and I got started on our shot list, and from the sheer length of it we panicked. Maybe this was too ambitious of a script idea as well, but it was too late to turn back. Fueled by sheer terror and Red Bull, I somehow produced a semi-coherent voiceover for our main character to record. While they recorded that, Simon and Kaleb continued to edit. With about six hours left, the filming process was getting more chaotic. There was no time to be Martin Scorsese, so what was done could only be described as “winging it.” While Kaleb and crew saved us by getting those final shots, Simon was working away at the edit and I spliced together some noir-looking credits, all racing against time.

Then there were 30 minutes until the deadline. As we scrambled to insert our credits onto the end, an eerie quiet settled over the room. We had not even exported yet, and for all of us UNF documentarians in the room, we knew that could potentially take 30 minutes itself. The countdown began: 12 minutes to export, 10, seven and 35 seconds, eight and 20 seconds — why is it going up? — six and 15 seconds, four, three, export complete. We all realized we had been holding our breath. Now all that was left was to upload it onto the website. Luckily, the gracious competition producers stop your time when upload begins instead of the time that the upload completes. We finished with three minutes to spare — time that I wish we had spent putting music over the credits, but nonetheless, we finished. After a weekend of adrenaline and sleep deprivation, we all said goodbye since most of us had to work Monday morning. Over the next year, most of us will forget the madness it takes to pull off the 48Hour Film Project and do it all over again in 2027. Because no matter if you’re a professional filmmaker or have never shot more than a concert from the nosebleeds on your iPhone, it is an experience like no other. Now that the making of the films is complete, all that is left are the showings and awards. The overall winning team will have their film screened at the international Filmapalooza film festival. For those interested in screening the films, there will be different screenings for different groups, all held at WJCT Studios in October. These are ticketed events, so find specific groups and screening dates here: 48hourfilm.com/jacksonville

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Art Guid

OCT. 1-28 “Sisters in Art” The exhibition features work by Jacksonville Artists Guild members Julie Feldman and Stephanie Pyren. An opening reception is scheduled for Oct. 6 from 6-8 p.m. Vandroff Art Gallery at the Jewish Community Alliance jacksonvilleartistsguild.org

OCT. 26 - 27 Jacksonville Watercolor Society Fall Juried Show Artwork installation begins Oct. 26, with judging taking place Oct. 27. This is the Jacksonville Watercolor Society's 2026 fall exhibition. Christ Episcopal Church jacksonvillewatercolorsociety.org

OCT. 2-NOV. 1 Tactile Show Created in conjunction with National Sensory Processing Awareness Month, this unusual exhibition is presented with the Florida DeafBlind Association and Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and encourages experiencing artwork through touch. Admission is free. St. Augustine Art Association staaa.org

THROUGH NOV. 7 “Rebel Waters / Aguas Rebeldes” On display throughout October, the exhibition features moving-image artist Nicole Antebi and work influenced by the interconnected El Paso and Ciudad Juárez region. Admission is free. Crisp-Ellert Art Museum flagler.edu

THROUGH OCT. 5 “Support Structures: Industrial Landscapes” Artist Dawn Inglis Montgomery's exhibition features paintings inspired by Southeastern industrial and manufacturing landscapes. Jacksonville Main Library jacksonvilleartistsguild.org THROUGH OCT. 8. “A Brushstroke Journey” Midge Scelzo's exhibition First Coast Cultural Center firstcoastculturalcenter.org THROUGH OCT. 12. “Jungle Vibes” Annelies Dykgraaf's exhibition Happy Medium Books Café anneliesdykgraaf.com OCT. 21-22 “Horizons” Group Show Artwork is received Oct. 21-22 for this group exhibition built around a fun requirement: every piece, regardless of medium or size, must incorporate a horizon. Winner Art Gallery carolwinner.art THROUGH OCT. 23. “Humor and Joy in Art” Marlene Scheer's exhibition Vicar's Landing jacksonvilleartistsguild.org

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THROUGH NOV. 16 PAStA Gallery Showcase This Art in Public Spaces exhibition is on view during October and features paintings, photography, pottery, glass and other works celebrating the history, culture and landscape of St. Augustine. St. Johns County Administration Building pastagalleryart.com ONGOING Art Walk Downtown Jacksonville Wednesday, Oct. 7 | 5-9 p.m. | Free Downtown Jacksonville turns into an open-air celebration of local creativity during the monthly First Wednesday Art Walk, produced by Downtown Vision, Inc.. The self-guided event spreads throughout Downtown’s Northbank, with artists, gallery exhibitions, vendors, live music, food trucks and pop-up experiences centered around James Weldon Johnson Park and Laura Street. Fernandina Beach Second Saturday Art Walk Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026 | 5-7 p.m. | Free Held on the second Saturday of each month, the Art Walk brings visitors into downtown Fernandina Beach galleries and studios for an evening of local art, featured artists, receptions and opportunities to meet the artists St. Augustine First Friday Art Walk Friday, Oct. 2, 2026 | 5-9 p.m. | Free St. Augustine turns its historic streets into one sprawling gallery on the first Friday of each month. For October, more than 25 galleries and art spaces are expected to participate across Historic Downtown, Aviles Street, King Street, St. George Street, Uptown, Anastasia Island and the San Sebastian District. Galleries unveil new exhibitions and often host artist receptions, demonstrations, refreshments and live music.

JACKSONVILLE MOCA Jacksonville mocajacksonville.unf.edu Cummer Museum of Art & Garden cummermuseum.org Yellow House Art Gallery yellowhouseart.org The Art Center Cooperative tacjacksonville.org Stellers Gallery stellersgallery.com Gallery725 gallery725.com ST. AUGUSTINE St. Augustine Art Association staaa.org

Butterfield Garage Art Gallery butterfieldgarage.com Cutter & Cutter Fine Art cutterandcutter.com James Coleman Signature Gallery jamescoleman.com High Tide Gallery hightidegallery.com Lightner Museum lightnermuseum.org D.R. Abbott Gallery drabbottgallery.com

AMELIA ISLAND & FERNANDINA BEACH Island Art Association Gallery islandart.org Blue Door Artists bluedoorartists.com Fringe Fine Art Gallery fringefineart.com Art Amelia artamelia.com Plantation Artists' Guild & Gallery paggart.com

Crisp-Ellert Art Museum at Flagler College crispellert.flagler.edu 55

Words by FOLIO

A Little Love and Color for Julington Creek

Photo by Michael Teal

Julington Creek has a colorful new addition thanks to Manan Patel “Max,” owner of Hurricane Grill & Wings, who commissioned local mural artist Tommy Gunz to create a piece of public art for the community. A Jacksonville native who grew up around Jax Beach and Arlington, Max says he has always considered Mandarin and Julington Creek one of Northeast Florida’s hidden gems. After taking over the restaurant a few months ago and receiving a warm welcome from the neighborhood, he wanted to give something back that residents could enjoy.

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The new mural was designed to become more than a colorful wall. Max hopes it will serve as a neighborhood photo spot for graduations, engagements, birthdays, family pictures and everyday memories. “This mural is my thank-you to Julington Creek for welcoming me in,” he said. We love seeing local businesses invest in the places they call home, especially when they bring local artists into the mix. Tommy Gunz’s work gives Julington Creek a new splash of personality and, perhaps, a future neighborhood landmark. So next time you’re nearby, stop in, snap a picture and become part of its story.

Words by Teresa Spencer

Avery Anna: A Country Artist on the Rise

Country music has no shortage of new voices, but Avery Anna is quickly proving she has something worth listening to. The Arizona-born singer-songwriter first caught attention by posting performances from an unlikely setting — her bathtub, where the acoustics happened to be just right — before building a rapidly growing audience with her powerful vocals and emotionally candid songwriting. Her breakout song, “Narcissist,” introduced millions of listeners to an artist willing to tackle heartbreak, vulnerability and growing up without polishing away the uncomfortable parts. Now an ACM New Female Artist of the Year winner, Anna is bringing her Blood Runs Thicker Tour to Jacksonville, with a Nov. 13 stop at FIVE. Her

music blends contemporary country with pop influences and singer-songwriter intimacy, while her voice can move from delicate to commanding in a heartbeat. For Northeast Florida country fans, the Jacksonville date offers a chance to catch one of the genre’s rising young artists as she continues turning early viral attention into a serious country music career.

Pride Events

OCT. 1 Thursday Pride Kickoff at InCahoots “Name That Tune” and performances by Diva Skii Justina Tokyo Aysha and Ontropie incahootsnightclub.com OCT. 2 Jacksonville Pride: Opening Night at Hardwick’s Featuring Brook Lynn Hytes from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” hardwicksbarjax.com One Love Friday at InCahoots Featuring Sofia Andrews The Iconic Marceline, Ivy Les Vixen, Tanisha Iman and Lolly Gag incahootsnightclub.com OCT. 3 Jax River City Pride Parade The approximately 1.5-mile route begins at historic Willow Branch Park. The parade is billed as family-friendly and open to all ages. jaxrcpride.org Pride Parade Dance Party in 5 Points (1059 Park St.) A celebration of Shaun Thurston’s mural “Constellations of Us” with music by DJ Supa Dave jaxrcpride.org PINK PRIDE at Hardwicks A “Mean Girls”-inspired party celebrating Pride and birthday girl BeBe Deluxe. Also performing, Darnell Lanier, Amanduh Queen and Kandy Ho’ hardwicksbarjax.com Pride Closeout Party at Hardwicks Music by DJ Willie with performances by Madam Platinum, Teyonna & Geiovan Cliché, and Daija B. Dupress hardwicksbarjax.com OCT. 4 Jave River City Pride Festival Riverside Park (The Duck Pond), 753 Park St., Jacksonville. The celebration continues Sunday with the main Pride Festival in Historic Five Points. jaxrcpride.org OCT. 7 Fernandina Beach Pride Mid-Week Mixer The Inkwell Art Bar, Fernandina Beach. Fernandina Beach Pride heads into October with a Dolly-themed Pride mixer featuring music, socializing and an open lip-sync opportunity. LGBTQIA+ community members and all OCT. 10 Cheers for Queers at Ink & Barley, St. Augustine A monthly gathering for LGBTQIA+ adults and allies in a social bar atmosphere inkandbarley.com OCT. 31 Frightfully Fabulous Halloween Party Fernandina Beach Pride closes October with its third annual Halloween celebration at Mocama Beer Co. fernandinabeachpride.com

60 Folio Weekly

Under the Rainbow Pride Events Bring Jacksonville Together Words by Kerry Speckman

Karrissa T. Wade has many claims to fame: Jacksonville’s Queen of Cabaret, the “hardest-working drag performer” in Northeast Florida, Florida’s Queen of Comedy, Best Drag Performer and Best LBGTQIA+ Activist in Northeast Florida (as voted by readers of “Folio”) and member of Jacksonville’s first LGBTQ+ Advisory Board, established by Mayor Donna Deegan in 2024. So who better to give us the scoop on Jacksonville’s Pride events? But first, some background. For most of the U.S., Pride Month takes place in June. But in Jacksonville (as well as Atlanta, Orlando and Phoenix), the celebration happens in October. In addition to expanding LGBTQ education, awareness and support beyond just one month, the later date allows local participants to take advantage of a 10-degree drop in temperature, which is key since Jacksonville’s three largest Pride events are outdoors. Wade, for one, is encouraged by Pride events being held out in the open. “Years ago, we had to hide in dark bars with blacked-out windows. But now we’re able to celebrate in restaurants and parks and hold more events like picnics, yoga and movies in the park,” she said. “I think people seeing a more positive side of [the LGBTQ community] instead of the negative, fear side is what’s made most of the difference.” The Jax River City Pride Parade, held Oct. 3 in historic Riverside, follows a 1.5-mile route down Park Street with hundreds of participants from local businesses and support groups, as well as advocates, blaring music, waving flags and handing out swag to attendees watching from the sidelines. The parade steps off at Willowbranch Park, the site of Jacksonville’s first LGBT Pride picnic held in 1978, and ends in 5 Points, where Wade will take over the stage, introducing each of the floats, vehicles and walking groups as they arrive. “There will be bleachers for people to sit, and most of the businesses on the strip open up. It’s going to be family-friendly, and you’ll see people of all ages,” she said. “I have people that come year after year just to see me and take photos. There are kids there, and it’s incredible.” Following the parade is a dance party in honor of “Constellations of Us,” the newly unveiled mural by artist Shaun Thurston in collaboration with Riverside Avondale Preservation.

Located in 5 Points at Park and Lomax streets, the 1,700-square-foot painting celebrates the local LGBTQ+ community. “The mural by Sean Thurston is absolutely beautiful,” Wade said. “It shows that even in the darkest of times, we’re always going to have a light to shine. I think that’s what we do …That’s what my job is. My job is to make sure, in the darkest of times, we know we are loved, and we do matter.” Next up is the Jax River City Pride Festival on Oct. 4. Held at Riverside Park, the free, one-day event includes live entertainment, featuring headliner Kristy Lee (aka the Southern Soul Shouter); a family fun zone; booths with local artists, businesses and non-profit groups; food vendors; and a drag show with Wade serving as host. Of course. Local LGBTQ bars are also planning events to celebrate Pride Month, including InKahoots with Pride Kickoff on Oct. 1, featuring performances by Diva Skii, Justina Tokyo Aysha and Ontropie; Hardwicks with Jacksonville Pride Opening Night on Oct. 2, featuring Brooke Lynn Hytes from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and PINK Pride, a “Mean Girls” style party on Oct. 3 celebrating Pride and birthday girl BeBe Deluxe. Looking back on her career and role in the local LGBTQ community, Wade is pleased with how far Jacksonville has come. “You know, I’m going on 31 years of performing in this city, so I’ve seen a lot of hate over the years, but I’ve also seen a lot of positive changes. And I do think this city is much better because of those changes,” she said. “I also think many people don’t know anyone who is gay, trans, bi or whatever, so being out in public and introducing myself allows me to meet them, get to know them and help them realize we’re not that different. We eat the same food. We drive the same cars. We go to the same places. And I think they realize the stereotypes they have about us are just that — stereotypes.” The bottom line, Wade said about Pride Month, is to “come with an open mind, try all the food and the drinks, dance, enjoy yourself, laugh and remember what it was like to be young.”

Comedy

& Magic

62 Folio Weekly

OCT. 1 Bobby Brown Jr. Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

Magic Hideaway With Bill Abbott Casa Marina Resort & Spa, St. Augustine magichideaway.com

OCT. 10 D’Lai Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

OCT. 2 Killers of “Kill Tony” Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts jaxevents.com

OCT. 4 My Cousin Tiera Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

Don’t Tell Comedy Somewhere in San Marco (even if we knew we wouldn’t tell) donttellcomedy.com

The Main Event, 7 p.m. Front and Center, 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com

OCT. 7 Fortune Feimster Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts jaxevents.com

Ha Ha Happy Hour, 4:30 p.m. The Main Event, 7 p.m. Full Disclosure ft. Antoine P., 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com

Stand-up Showcase Burlock and Barrel rivercitycomedy.com

That 1 Mailman Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

Stand-up Showcase Ink Factory rivercitycomedy.com

Tim Butterly Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com

Kick’n Ash Comedy The Pillars Club eventbrite.com

Drag Queen-a-Palooza Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com

Classic Comedy Night Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com

Stormy Daniels Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com

OCT. 11

OCT. 2-3 Tony Roberts Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

OCT. 8 Stand-up Comedy Road Show Beach Front Grille, Flagler Beach 3rdspaceimprov.com

Don’t Tell Comedy Somewhere in Riverside (even if we knew we wouldn’t tell) donttellcomedy.com

OCT. 9 The Main Event, 7 p.m. The Blue Show: Adults-Only Improv, 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com

OCT. 3 Ha Ha Happy Hour, 4 p.m. The Main Event, 7 p.m. The Blue Show: Adults-Only Improv, 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com Stand-up Showcase Ink Factory rivercitycomedy.com

Stand-up Showcase Burlock and Barrel rivercitycomedy.com Amy’s Birthday Variety Show Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com

X-tra Funny Saturday X Lounge eventbrite.com

OCT. 9-10 Matt McCusker Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts jaxevents.com

Bob Lauver Comedy Hypnosis Show Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com

The Magic of Eric Eaton Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com Splou Comedy Zone comedyzone.com Improv for a Cause Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com OCT. 15-17 Ryan Davis Comedy Zone comedyzone.com OCT. 16 The Main Event, 7 p.m. The Blue Show: Adults-Only, 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com Stand-up Showcase Burlock and Barrel rivercitycomedy.com Friday Night Live Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com

OCT. 17 Ha Ha Happy Hour, 4:30 p.m. The Main Event, 7 p.m. The Blue Show: Adults-Only, 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com Stand-up Showcase Ink Factory rivercitycomedy.com Trap House Comedy THC Trap House Chicken eventbrite.com Magic Hideaway With Bill Abbott Casa Marina Resort & Spa, St. Augustine magichideaway.com Improv Spooktacular Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com OCT. 18 Ejspeaks Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

64 Folio Weekly

OCT. 21 Anthony Mrocka, Psychic Medium Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

OCT. 23-24 George Wallace Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

OCT. 22 Charles McBee Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

OCT. 24 Ha Ha Happy Hour, 4:30 p.m. The Main Event, 7 p.m. The Blue Show: Adults-Only, 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com

PEO Comedy Night First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com OCT.. 23 The Main Event, 7 p.m. The Blue Show: Adults-Only, 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com

Stand-up Showcase Ink Factory rivercitycomedy.com Magic Hideaway With Bill Abbott Casa Marina Resort & Spa, St. Augustine magichideaway.com

Stand-up Showcase Burlock and Barrel rivercitycomedy.com

Improv Spooktacular Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com

Smart People Doing Comedy Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com

OCT. 25 Pedro Gonzalez Comedy Zone comedyzone.com

Mark Paul Comedy Zone comedyzone.com OCT. 29 Lemaire Lee Ink Factory rivercitycomedy.com OCT. 29-31 Nephew Tommy Comedy Zone comedyzone.com OCT. 30 Don’t Tell Comedy Somewhere in Murray Hill (even if we knew we wouldn’t tell) donttellcomedy.com The Main Event, 7 p.m. Big Names -21 and up, 9:30 First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com Stand-up Showcase Burlock and Barrel rivercitycomedy.com Improv Spooktacular Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com OCT. 31 The Main Event, 7 p.m. Big Names, Adults-Only, 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com The Main Event, 7 p.m. The Blue Show, 9:30 p.m. First Coast Comedy firstcoastcomedy.com Stand-up Showcase Ink Factory rivercitycomedy.com Magic Hideaway With Bill Abbott Casa Marina Resort & Spa, St. Augustine magichideaway.com Improv Spooktacular Third Space Improv, St. Augustine 3rdspaceimprov.com

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66 Folio Weekly

Photo by Ariana Alcantara

Concert

Review

Flipturn in Review Words by Carmen Macri

After a week-long homecoming tour, Flipturn wrapped up the run by headlining the St. Augustine Amphitheatre with a near-capacity crowd. If it wasn’t a complete sellout, you certainly couldn’t tell from the sea of packed seats. Navigating security to reach the stage was a bit of a maze, largely because the merch line spilled all the way from the courtyard into the parking lot. But our crowd wasn’t about to let that slow us down. As soon as the opening band, Winyah, launched into their set with ‘Spinning,’ I broke into a full sprint just to catch the final chord from my seat. Having first stumbled upon Winyah at a cramped house show two years ago, I’ve kept them in constant rotation ever since. I was equally as excited to see them as I was the hometown heroes. This South Carolina indie rock quintet has been climbing the ranks fast, particularly within the Flipturn community. Lead singer Thomas Rowland has a voice born for belting — smooth yet wonderfully raspy, with nostalgic lyrics that bring you back to that one Summer (you know the one). Fresh off the release of their sophomore album, the band spent much of the night test-driving brand-new material, eager to gauge the crowd’s reaction. The audience happily lost themselves in unfamiliar rhythms, turning the new cuts into an instant dance party. But, true to form, the outfit brought it all home by closing out with heavy-hitting fan favorites ‘Thread’ and ‘Lot to Learn.’ After a quick intermission and a few trips to the bar, Flipturn took over the stage with “Inner Wave,” and the hometown crowd did exactly what you would expect — erupted. Even with the amphitheater’s incredible sound system (shout-out), the crowd was deafening, almost drowning out lead man Dillon Basse’s voice.

Having seen Flipturn more than a dozen times since their early days — right after they won the Destination Okeechobee competition back in 2018 — watching them headline a massive amphitheater felt deeply special. I vividly remember being lost in a crowd of just 50 people at Jack Rabbits, eagerly telling all my friends about this brilliant up-and-coming band. So, seeing them now, backed by sweeping stage visuals and a Pink Floyd-esque light show, was nothing short of surreal. While every member of the Fernandina quintet had their moment to shine, the real show-stealer for me was Mitch Fountain on synth. He injected a whole new kind of edge into their well-known catalog, breathing fresh life into familiar tracks on stage. Song after song, the crowd buzzed with a frantic, electric energy, screaming the lyrics like their lives depended on it. Not a single person was actually sitting in their seat, and the floor section was overrun by girls spinning in whimsical dance circles. Even better, it was that rare kind of concert where phones were practically nonexistent — instead of a sea of glowing screens, the crowd was a sea of hands in the air, unedited moments and smiling faces. The setlist leaned heavily into their Burnout Days album, while still hitting us with fan favorites like ‘Chicago,’ ‘Glistening’ (featuring Rowland) and ‘Space Cowboy.’ But the true magic happened during the encore, when the group finally gave in to a years-long fandom meme: they played the ultimate deep cut, ‘Beep.’ Fans had been holding up signs demanding it for ages, and when they finally caved, boy, was it worth the wait. The night ultimately closed out with the entire amphitheater belting ‘August’ right back at the stage.

New Mus OCT. 9

OCTOBER $100 SPECIAL

Dominic Fike The Shoppes of Ponte Vedra (904) 280-1202 Avondale 3617 St. Johns Ave. (904) 388-5406 San Marco 2044 San Marco Blvd. (904) 398-9741 Jacksonville, Florida 32207

“How to Quit Smoking” Surprise: Dominic Fike isn’t just an “Euphoria” extra who accidentally wandered into a recording booth. He’s actually a real-life musician and producer. And — plot twist — he’s good at it.

OCT. 16

www.underwoodjewelers.com

Fontaines D.C. “Dopamine Chamber” Straight out of Dublin, Ireland (D.C.), this gritty post-punk outfit is definitely the boy band of your dreams. They’ve been blessing our ears with alternative rock since 2014, though they officially made us pay attention in the U.S. with their 2019 debut album, “Dogrel.” Ever since, this unstoppable alt group hasn’t slowed down for a single second. 68 Folio Weekly

sic Releases

Made For You

Remi Wolf

irez

By Ambar Ram

Troye Sivan “She’s the Best”

Some people remember Remi Wolf from her 2014 “American Idol” days, but real ones know her from her 2019 EP, “You’re a Dog!” She’s wonderfully raw, completely honest, and owns a set of powerhouse vocals.

Sure, the album is called “She’s the Best,” but let’s be honest, it should really be titled “Troye Sivan is the Best.” I love everything he does. He is iconic, and he is the moment.

Nickelback

Queens of the Stone Age

OCT. 30

“Mud”

“Everything Under the Sun”

“Perfecth”

Nickelback genuinely needs no introduction. And more importantly, they definitely do not need me to write a descriptive blurb explaining why you should listen to this heavy post-grunge band and their upcoming album.

The title of their upcoming album pretty much sums up the legacy Queens of the Stone Age is leaving behind. No, they aren’t the perfect rock band, but they are damn near close enough.

70 Folio Weekly

Photos provided by Skyview

SPACE IS THE PLACE: SKYVIEW TAKES FLIGHT AT THE WJCT SOUNDSTAGE WHEN SKYVIEW TAKES THE WJCT SOUNDSTAGE FOR A WEEKEND OF CONCERTS ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, OCT. 3 AND 4, IT COMES NEAR THE END OF THEIR MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR TO DATE. BY SHELTON HULL

It will be their 11th and 12th shows of 2026, and the first in their own hometown since last October. Put succinctly, they’re a rock band that makes music about space, but everything they say is based on real things and real people. The lyrics are researched with the fine eye of a journalist or academic. Not only can you easily teach the history of human spaceflight using their music as a reliable secondary source document, but that is actually something that is likely to happen sooner rather than later. The story of Skyview begins at the end — or, rather, would have been the end for most bands, back in 2019. Having played together for years since their founding in 2007, achieving solid success on a regional level, they had reached the point that most artists in this area inevitably find themselves, where they have gone as far as they could go, without packing up and moving en masse to a city where musicians can actually succeed. So, instead, they went upward, literally, and that is where the real story begins. The current lineup includes Evan Smith on lead vocals and guitar; Ryan Kirk, keyboards and backing vocals; Stone Schaefer, bass and backing vocals; Ethan Thurber, drums. Smith and Kirk have been there from the beginning, while Schaefer and Thurber joined just a few years ago. They’ve already toured as far north as Canada, and as far west as Texas, but they’re going even further out soon. They hit their stride at a time when mainstream attention is directed to the cosmos with more interest and intensity than any time since maybe the 1980s. Of course, it will never be the same as it was before the Challenger disaster traumatized an entire generation of Americans, particularly all the school kids for whom the late great Christa McAuliffe and her colleagues were our introduction to death as a persistent theme in our media. A boost in funding to NASA across several administrations and the creation of Space Force by the current president have had regular citizens talking for years, as has the rapid growth of private spaceflight by firms like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic. The band will always be eternally linked with the Museum of Science and History, namely the former Bryan-Gooding Planetarium, where Skyview played nine concerts prior to its closure and demolition earlier this year. At the time of their last show there, back in July 2025, the future of MOSH was still being negotiated, but it’s now slated for reopening some time in the first half of 2029, with over $130 million being spent on the new 2.5-acre site, across the water on Bay Street. MOSH was the base from which the band’s career truly took off, the place where Skyview perfected one of the most interesting methodologies in music. With MOSH on hiatus, Skyview has been plying their trade far and wide over the past year and a half, with two shows at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science Planetarium in Miami, five shows at the FOGG Planetarium at Challenger Learning Center in Tallahassee, the Intuitive Planetarium at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and most recently

the John W. Woods IMAX Dome Theater at the McWane Science Center in Birmingham. These shows have allowed them to expand their network of contacts, not just among planetaria, but also reaching ever deeper into the vast network of people working in the space flight industry today. And that group includes some actual astronauts, most notably Dr. Sian Proctor, with whom they recorded and released their first collaboration, “The Vast Reaches,” in April 2025. Dr. Proctor is an author, a painter, a poet and a geology professor, but she’s best known as the world’s first female commercial spaceship pilot, having flown Inspiration4 (the first all-civilian space mission) in September 2021. They will perform together for the first time at the Dorrance Dome at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix, Oct. 14–16. But before that, Skyview debuts at the WJCT Soundstage, which has technically been there since the building itself opened in May 1980, hosting hundreds of events there since. It’s taken on new life, however, as part of the extensive renovations made to the station just a few years ago. The soundstage seats 350 comfortably, 400 standing, with a 23-foot-high, 125-linear-foot cyclorama projection screen standing behind the stage. Merchandise, drinks, etc., all run along the back wall, parallel to the stage, allowing for a comprehensive view of the proceedings from any vantage point in the room. This is particularly useful for the type of performance this band presents, in which the room itself is part of the band. While their set will be essentially the same, from an AV standpoint, the visual aspect of their production required substantial alteration. The video packages that accompany the music, for which the band has become nationally famous, are each designed to match the tones and tempos of the tracks they are designed to accompany, and each one is built around official NASA footage of whatever mission(s) each particular song was written about. All the footage is sourced from various sources of various quality and provenance, and then it’s digitized and formatted, and only then can they begin the painstaking process of editing the footage together and wrangling it to fit not only the narrative, but the rhythm, beat for beat, practically note for note, for all 11 songs in their standard set. It took Smith three months just to reformat the videos for the soundstage. Imagine trying to pick up a toddler who does NOT want to be picked up, and then give the child a bunch of candy, and then you put on roller skates: that’s what it must be like to take all that video, which was designed for an immersive, near panographic view, and then reformat it to accommodate the stylistic restraints of a rectangular projection screen — a gigantic rectangular screen, to be sure, but a rectangle nonetheless. The soundstage screen is beyond spacious for pretty much any conceivable purpose but theirs; they are likely the only artists to ever play that stage who’ll be required to scale back the scope of their approach. It’s a challenge they relish, and the results will likely be relished by everyone who’s there to see it. 71

Photos provided by Skyview

72 Folio Weekly

s Concert OCT. 1 Sugarland St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com Vitamin String Quartet Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com Mike Shackelford Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com Screeching Weasel Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com llison Eide Murray Hill Theatre murrayhilltheatre.com The Grass Is Dead The Original Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com OCT. 2 Whiskey Myers St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com Mariachi El Bronx Ponte Vedra Concert Hall pvconcerthall.com Angel Dust The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com The O’Rees Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com Whitney Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com Birds on a Kill Kona Clubhouse konaskatepark.com OCT. 2-3 Stevie Wonder & More: The 70s & Beyond Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts jaxsymphony.org

OCT. 3 Gov’t Mule and Ziggy Marley St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com Celtic Thunder Ponte Vedra Concert Hall pvconcerthall.com

Sex Mex The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com David Grier Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com

Crown Magnetar The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com

OCT. 8 Ty Myers St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com

Eli & Fur Decca Live deccalive.com

The LeeBoys Experience Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com

Nahko and Medicine for the People Duval Hall duvalhall.com

Damon Fowler The Original Cafe 11 originalcafe11.com

History of New Orleans Piano, noon Tom McDermott & Molly Sweet, 7 p.m. Friday Musicale fridaymusicale.com

OCT. 9 Atlanta Rhythm Section & Firefall Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com

Haley Jones Murray Hill Theatre murrayhilltheatre.com

Jaqs Sunveil’s The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com

OCT. 3-4 Skyview Space Rock WJCT Studios wjct.org

Selwyn Birchwood Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com

OCT. 4 The Music of Chick Corea & Gary Burton Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com OCT. 6 Haunt Me The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com Blue Jay Jazz Jam Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com Thundercat FIVE fivejax.com OCT. 7 Boz Scaggs St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com

The Gringos Decca Live deccalive.com Holding Absence & Arm’s Length FIVE fivejax.com Mary Fahl The Original Cafe Eleven St. Augustine originalcafe11.com Ontologics Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com OCT. 9-10 Tedeschi Trucks Band St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com

OCT. 10 Eddie 9V Ponte Vedra Concert Hall pvconcerthall.com

HISTORIC ENTERTAINMENT SINCE 1927 OCTOBER

VITAMIN STRING QUARTET & GIRL NAMED TOM

HOTEL CALIFORNIA

CORALINE IN CONCERT

THE FLORIDA BALLET “DRACULA”

PAULA POUNDSTONE

FLOYD NATION

EDDIE B

BLANK SPACE

HERE COME THE MUMMIES

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE STUDIO COMPANY

ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION & FIREFALL

BEHIND THE SCREAM

A LIVE CONVERSATION WITH DAVID ARQUETTE FOLLOWING A 30TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING OF SCREAM

COLIN MOCHRIE & BRAD SHERWOOD

BETHEL MUSIC

BLACK VIOLIN

RUMOURS OF FLEETWOOD MAC

THE VAMPIRE CIRCUS

TITO NIEVES

20 GARRISON KEILLOR & ERICA RHODES 21 GOLDEN GIRLS: THE LAUGHS CONTINUE 22 THE BILLY JOEL LEGACY A TRIBUTE EXPERIENCE

23 PETE THE CAT FOR SCHOOLS

24 THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW 28 GHOSTBUSTERS IN CONCERT 29 SONIC LIVE IN CONCERT 30 THE ILLHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

40TH ANNIVERSARY

HAIRBALL

DOKTOR KABOOM! LOOK OUT! SCIENCE IS COMING!

A SALUTE TO THE EAGLES WJCT SOUNDSTAGE

THE UNOFFICIAL TAYLOR SWIFT TRIBUTE PONTE VEDRA CONCERT HALL

FOR SCHOOLS

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE STUDIO COMPANY

FROSTY: A MUSICAL ADVENTURE FOR SCHOOLS

BAD CO. LEGACY

BLADE RUNNER LIVE IN CONCERT

20 ROCKY IN CONCERT 21 BLACKBERRY SMOKE

WITH SPECIAL GUEST ANDY THOMAS

22 AIR SUPPLY 23 DEREK HOUGH

DANCE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

25 THE STRAY CATS

WITH SPECIAL GUEST MIDNIGHT COWGIRLS

27 HALLMARK(ISH)

THE UNOFFICIAL MUSICAL PARODY

29 HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS STARRING SHEENA EASTON, ALL-4-ONE, RUBEN STUDDARD & LINDSEY WEBSTER

NOVEMBER

JIM HENSON’S LABYRINTH IN CONCERT

DECEMBER 1

FOR SCHOOLS

BLUE ÖYSTER CULT

DON’T FEAR THE REAPER 50TH ANNIVERSARY

MARCUS MILLER

DARK STAR ORCHESTRA

WAITING TO EXHALE IN CONCERT

JOHN MULANEY

BRIAN KILMEADE

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

THE MUSICAL BOX PROUDLY PRESENTS: AND THEN THERE WAS... PHIL

40TH ANNIVERSARY HOSTED BY ELLEN GREENE

TRISHA PAYTAS

BUY TICKETS ONLY AT THE FLORIDA THEATRE BOX OFFICE Floridatheatre.com 904-355-2787 128 E. Forsyth St. Jacksonville, FL 32202

74 Folio Weekly

Blue Jay Celebrates John Prine Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com Bloodrave Decca Live deccalive.com Lauren Alaina FIVE fivejax.com Rehash Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com Forsaken Profits Kona Clubhouse konaskatepark.com OCT. 11 The Avett Brothers St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com All Them Witches Ponte Vedra Concert Hall pvconcerthall.com Spite FIVE fivejax.com Suburban Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com OCT. 12 Bethel Music Tour Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com Edwin McCain Ponte Vedra Concert Hall pvconcerthall.com Dark Divine Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com

John Nemeth The Original Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com OCT. 13 Thrown The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com Blue Jay Jazz Jam Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com Candlebox FIVE fivejax.com Quinn Sullivan The Original Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com OCT. 14 Black Violin Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com Indigo Girls Ponte Vedra Concert Hall pvconcerthall.com Toadies FIVE fivejax.com OCT. 15 Combi Christ The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com Walter Parks & The Unlawful Assembly The Original Cafe Eleven originalcafe11.com OCT. 16 Rumours of Fleetwood Mac Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com sunn O))) FIVE fivejax.com Great Lake Swimmers Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com

Bernstein & Stravinsky Jacksonville Center for the Performing Art jaxsymphony.org

Blue Jay Round Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com

Ayodylan Kona Clubhouse konaskatepark.com

Sidequest Decca Live deccalive.com

Albert Castiglia The Original Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com

The Living Tombstone FIVE fivejax.com

OCT. 17 Alabama St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com

Disciple Murray Hill Theatre murrayhilltheatre.com

The Vampire Circus Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com Molly Hatchet Ponte Vedra Concert Hall pvconcerthall.com

Tyler Hilton The Original Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com OCT. 17 Leslie Mendelson Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com

The American Journey St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church civicorchestrajax.org Cardinal Bloom Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com OCT. 18 Tito Nieves Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com David Champagne Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com Clutch FIVE fivejax.com The Music of Gary Smart Friday Musicale fridaymusicale.com

Donefor Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com

1blackfriend Kona Clubhouse konaskatepark.com

OCT. 19 Stryper FIVE fivejax.com

OCT. 23-24 Music of the Knights: Elton, McCartney & Lloyd Webber Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts jaxsymphony.org

Penny & Sparrow Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com OCT. 20 Blue Jay Jazz Jam Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com Hurricane Wisdom Decca Live deccalive.com Brightr Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com David Champagne Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com OCT. 21 CAKE St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com OCT. 22 The Billy Joel Legacy Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com OCT. 23 Live Dead & Brothers Ponte Vedra Concert Hall pvconcerthall.com The Number Twelve Looks Like You The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com JK & the Contraband Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com Goodbye June Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com 76 Folio Weekly

OCT. 24 Turnpike Troubadours St. Augustine Amphitheatre theamp.com JD Simo and Luther Dickinson Ponte Vedra Concert Hall pvconcerthall.com CupcakKe FIVE fivejax.com

The Seven Wonders—Fleetwood Mac Tribute The Original Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com OCT. 29 The Saint Cecilia Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com GWAR FIVE fivejax.com 12Eleven Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com OCT. 30 The Illharmonic Orchestra Florida Theatre floridatheatre.com

Pulley Kona Clubhouse konaskatepark.com

The Inspector Cluzo Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com

Jason Ricci & The Band Kind The Original Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com

Linska Decca Live deccalive.com

OCT. 25 Tallah The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com Candi Jennings Band Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com OCT. 26 Kennedy Ryon The Albatross thealbatrossjax.com OCT. 27 Blue Jay Jazz Jam Blue Jay Listening Room bluejayjax.com OCT. 28 Drivin N Cryin FIVE fivejax.com

Clara La San FIVE fivejax.com The Scott Watkins: American Piano Friday Musicale fridaymusicale.com Veritas Prism Jack Rabbits jaxlive.com

The best. 14 times. Museum d Place to Get Marrie isitors Take V o t e c Pla Gift Shop amp

Summer C

City View Venue Outdoor Venue Sunset Venue*

Local Influencer (Wade Lee)

Museum Art Gallery k Venue Garden & Par Museum Restaurant Attraction

Thanks, Jax.

OCT. 31 Mudtown Kona Clubhouse konaskatepark.com Grieves The Original Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine originalcafe11.com

as voted by readers *runner-up

Amelia Island Gets Ready to Swing THE FOUR FRESHMEN AND GUNHILD CARLING HEADLINE EIGHT DAYS OF JAZZ, BLUES, SWING AND MORE

BY TERESA SPENCER

For eight days this October, Amelia Island will trade a little of its beach-town tranquility for swinging rhythms, soaring vocals, blues, Latin beats and the kind of late-night jam sessions that remind you jazz was never meant to be too well-behaved. The 2026 Amelia Island Jazz Festival returns Oct. 4-11 with a packed schedule featuring legendary vocal group The Four Freshmen and Swedish jazz sensation Gunhild Carling as this year’s headliners. “It’s going to be a very exciting eight days of world-class jazz here on Amelia Island,” Festival Artistic Director Les DeMerle said. “We are thrilled to have these acclaimed artists with us for what will be a full week of exceptional, diverse jazz.”

Thursday offers one of the festival’s most unusual combinations when blues guitarist Bill Wharton, better known as the “Sauce Boss,” brings his Down Home Blues & Gumbo Show to Story & Song Center for Arts & Culture. Wharton cooks his signature gumbo while playing the blues before the festival changes gears that evening with a Latin Jazz Dance and Concert featuring the VG Latin Band at Sadler Ranch. The festival closes Oct. 11 with a New Orleans-style finale and the traditional Dixie to Swing Jazz Brunch featuring The Spare Rib Six, DeMerle, Eisele and special guest trumpeter Longineu Parsons.

The Four Freshmen perform Oct. 9 in the Grand Ballroom at the Courtyard by Marriott Amelia Island near Main Beach. The group helped pioneer close-harmony jazz vocals, combining sophisticated arrangements with live instrumentation and influencing generations of performers, including the Beach Boys and Manhattan Transfer. On Oct. 10, Gunhild Carling takes over the ballroom. The Swedish singer, musician and old-school showwoman has developed an international following through her remarkable versatility. Her musical arsenal includes trumpet, trombone, piano, bagpipes, harp, harmonica, flute, recorder and ukulele. She has even been known to play three trumpets at once, because apparently one trumpet simply wasn’t enough. Following both headline shows, the music continues with late-night jam sessions at Mocama Beer Company led by pianist Rory Ames, the festival’s 2026 scholarship winner, and the Next Generation Jazz Band. Admission to the jams is included with a headline-show ticket. The festival opens Oct. 4 with its traditional free concert featuring the 21-piece UNF Jazz Ensemble 2, directed by Dennis Marks. The week continues with the Sponsor Party on Monday and Jazz & Wine Tasting at The Decantery on Tuesday. Wednesday brings Jump Jive and Wail Swing Night at Sadler Ranch with the Dynamic Les DeMerle Little Big Band and vocalist Bonnie Eisele.

Beyond bringing great music to Amelia Island, the festival also helps ensure jazz has another generation waiting in the wings. The nonprofit Amelia Island Jazz Festival supports educational programs, including scholarships for aspiring jazz musicians pursuing college educations. With legends, international performers, young musicians, local venues and even a bowl of gumbo thrown into the mix, this year’s festival offers plenty of reasons to head north and let Amelia Island swing for a week.

Concert

Review

Modest Mouse at The Amp Words & photos by Ambar Ramirez

Was everyone there just to hear “Float On” live? Probably. But that didn’t stop Modest Mouse from putting on a great show at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, and it definitely didn’t stop the crowd from having an absolute blast. I’ll be honest: I only know that one song from the six-person band. But that puts us in a unique situation where I can give a completely cold, honest review. And if we’re going to be honest, I have to start at the beginning ... which was late. Shocker! So I missed the opener, Robbers, at 7 p.m., but I made it just in the nick of time to hit my seat right as Modest Mouse took the stage.

Modest Mouse has been around long enough not to need all the bells and whistles, like extravagant stage designs or costumes. It’s just the stage, their instruments, and the crowd. And speaking of the crowd, I learned you can tell a lot about an artist by the people they bring in. As they say, birds of a feather flock together. As I perused the crowd, I saw a die-hard fan in a 2017 tour shirt who didn’t stop dancing for a second, a shirtless guy, a lot of five-panel hats, and a college kid in a full boat captain’s suit. Eclectic, exotic, ambient, and psychedelic funk — all words I’d use to describe both Modest Mouse and the people watching them. 78 Folio Weekly

With Modest Mouse, though, the lyrics sort of take a back seat. I couldn’t really understand any of the words (whether that was an intentional artistic choice or not, I’m not sure), but I could feel the music way more than I could hear it. Through the guitar switches, the heavy bass, the piano, and the tambourine, it all came together to tell a story that was louder and more impactful than any string of words could ever be. Did I think that one random Thursday night I would hear a song that shaped the early 2000s? No. And I certainly did not foresee that hearing that song (you know the one) live wouldn’t even be the highlight of the night. What surprised me most — and what made this show so unique — was that Modest Mouse was just having fun on stage. They don’t take themselves seriously, and that energy carried straight into the pit and the seats. Everyone was up, dancing, and downright happy to be there.

80 Folio Weekly

A thousand shows,

five volumes of “super happy fun time” and a plate of garlic crab:

Photos provided by Bryan Bielanski

that is the exact mix Bryan Bielanski is bringing to Jacksonville Words by Neha Nidheesh More than 1,000 shows, five volumes of Bryan’s Super Happy Fun Time and a whole lot of miles later, Bryan Bielanski is still finding reasons to hit the road. The singer-songwriter and solo acoustic performer is heading back to Jacksonville on Nov. 20 for a show at Kona Skate Park. It’s been a few years since his last visit, and he’s looking forward to seeing some familiar faces, meeting some new ones and, apparently, doing a little seafood exploring while he’s here. 82 Folio Weekly

Bielanski describes his sound as “unique, authentic and catchy,” with a big emphasis on good vibes and staying positive. His five-volume Bryan’s Super Happy Fun Time project certainly sounds like it knows what kind of mood it wants to create. And being a solo acoustic performer doesn’t mean he’s planning on keeping things quiet.

“I try to live up to my name,” Bielanski said. “It’s all about good vibes, staying positive, and I don’t let being a solo acoustic guy prevent me from really rocking out!” That energy makes sense when you consider just how much time he has spent on the road.

For Bielanski, all those little moments seem to be a part of the bigger picture.

Bielanski has played more than 1,000 tour dates around the world, and he sees every trip as part of what he calls “one big never-ending adventure.” The people he meets and the experiences he has along the way have become an “inexhaustible” source of inspiration for his songwriting.

After a few years away, Bielanski is excited to return to the city and get back onstage at Kona Skate Park. He’s also looking forward to the people who come with him — old friends he hasn’t seen in a while and new ones he hasn’t met yet.

In other words, the road keeps giving him something to write about. And maybe that’s one of the nicest things about making music while constantly moving: you never quite know what the next story is going to be.

And somewhere between the music, the old friends, the new faces and whatever happens next, there may just be one more thing to check off the Jacksonville list: Garlic crab.

A new city means a new crowd. A new crowd can mean a new conversation. A new conversation can become a memory, and somewhere down the line, that memory can find its way into a song.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

84 Folio Weekly

FROM THE ARCHIVES

86 Folio Weekly

FROM THE ARCHIVES

88 Folio Weekly

Photos by Carmen Macri

s Folio Eat

Smash Hit Carolina Jax

Words by Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri Jacksonville has dozens upon dozens of burger joints stacked on every corner from downtown to the beaches, but very few actually get it right. Burgers can be tricky. Too much bread, too much meat, or a patty smashed so thin it basically tastes like charcoal. Too saucy, or worse, completely bone-dry. The stakes get even higher if you wander into one of those high-end craft burger spots where they look at you sideways if you ask for ketchup, offering an aggressively curated lineup of artisanal aged cheeses and house-made fig marmalades instead. Absolute zero hate to the aged cheese and marmalade community, but sometimes a girl just wants a regular, down-and-dirty burger. But we digress. That is why when you stumble onto the corner of Oak and Margaret streets and hit a menu that effortlessly bridges the gap between old-school comfort classics and over-the-top creations — and actually backs it up with flavor — you clear a permanent spot for it in your rotation. Before the brick-and-mortar, Carolina Jax chef and owner Anthony Travis was just a guy from Climax, North Carolina. “I’ve been in kitchens my whole life. I was the youngest manager of our local Waffle House franchise. We had like 14, and I was 22 years old managing one of them. It was, at the time, one of the worst locations, and I got it up to about halfway in the franchise, which was, you know, pretty cool,” Travis shared. “So I’ve just been cooking my whole life, and probably, I think I was like 27 or 28 years old, and I was like, I want to get out of this. I want to do something else. And I did.”

After his time at Waffle House, Travis completely switched gears and took a job at a paper company — an experience he describes as feeling just like The Office. But paper wasn’t where his heart was; it had always belonged with food. So when he and his wife got married and moved to Jacksonville, Travis knew it was the perfect opportunity to get back to his roots. At the time, the local food scene was buzzing with the Jax Food Truck Food Court on Beach Boulevard. After visiting a few times, Travis felt the vibrant atmosphere and saw how passionate the vendors were about what they did, sparking a strong desire to be a part of it. “So I came here, I opened up a barbecue trailer, and it was like, I kid you not, a little bit bigger than the space that we’re in right now. It was like a 6-by-12 trailer, very small, very dainty. And I didn’t sell any barbecue. Like, I was throwing the stuff away — it was so bad,” Travis explained. “I was just having a bad go at it. I wasn’t selling anything, but at the time I had a couple of burgers and hot dogs on the menu. And it’s the only thing I sold. So I was like, let me switch gears and refocus on what we’re doing and rework the concept and everything. So that’s what we did. And it just took off.” And so Carolina Jax was born, though for the first few years it went by Cackylacky’s. From 2017 to 2020, Travis ran a food truck that gained a lot of recognition and a cult-like following. So much recognition that he had to look at expanding into a brick-and-mortar location — which he did in June 2020. Opening a restaurant in the height of COVID doesn’t seem like the brightest idea, but Travis believes that was their saving grace.

90 Folio Weekly

When it came to making the Kismet, one of the newer burgers on the menu, that was one of those trial-and-error attempts that turned out just right. This isn’t your typical patty, cheese and onion. Instead, it comes draped in black garlic mayo, arugula, creamy Boursin cheese, crushed pistachios and fig jam, with a drizzle of Mike’s Hot Honey. There’s a reason this burger earned Best Burger in Jacksonville, and despite the name, it has nothing to do with fate. All those unconventional flavors you’d never think belong together blend seamlessly, leaving you wanting bite after bite. And honestly? If you stripped away all the toppings and frills, you’d still be left with an incredible burger. That’s because Carolina Jax is committed to serving the very best, starting by using fresh 80/20 chuck and Idaho-grown potatoes coated in potato starch to maintain max crispiness. Take, for example, the Kismet’s counterpart, the Double Trouble.

“It’s the only reason why I succeeded, to be honest with you,” Travis expressed. “We wore masks. We asked the customers to wear masks. We did all this social distancing. And we found out people loved it. They just wanted to get out, and as long as everybody was doing it safely and properly, we didn’t have an issue with it. And honestly, we were one of the very few restaurants that were doing that kind of thing. So I feel like it helped us a lot, especially in the beginning.” Whether it was a stroke of pandemic-era luck or simply the result of Travis’s vision, Carolina Jax quickly became everyone’s favorite burger joint. And they have the accolades to prove it, having been voted Folio’s Best Burger for three years in a row, 2022’s Bold City Best, Best Eats in Jax, Burger Beast approved and best burger by Jacksonville Restaurant Reviews.

Two patties cooked to perfection in mustard — yes, cooked in mustard — are topped with American cheese, bacon jam, Jax sauce, lettuce, tomato and pickle. It sounds simple enough, but it’s a unique take on your classic burger. Every bite left us wanting more and more and more. Not to mention, it was paired perfectly with the house sweet potato fries and cinnamon butter, perfect for those craving both sweet and savory. We thought we were early, sliding in two minutes after opening, but we still narrowly dodged the rush. By 11:30 a.m., Carolina Jax was already packed with locals trying to squeeze in a bite on their break. “We’re very blessed to have this, and it kind of just speaks to what we do. We try really hard. The whole team, everybody, is just super into it and proud of what they do, and it shows,” Travis said.

Travis prides himself on blending North Carolina and Jacksonville staples into his creations, whether in the name or the ingredients. “If you look at our menu, a lot of stuff is named after stuff from back home, like the Black Mountain, OBX, the Tar Heel, the Blue Devil, you know, stuff like that. There is still an influence from Carolina cuisine,” Travis shared. “When I started, I just kind of wanted to elevate stuff that I found in roadside diners and stuff from back home. We have these little roadside hot dog and burger stands and the food was never good, but it was very nostalgic. So I was like, man, I want to take that food and make it good. So that’s just kind of been our whole motive for the 10 years that we’ve been going. Just to keep improving and keep elevating.” When it comes to the rest of the menu, Travis finds inspiration everywhere — whether he is spitballing ideas with local chefs or snacking on a charcuterie board in Savannah, Georgia, and thinking, “That would be great on a burger.” Of course, building an exotic burger takes plenty of trial and error. Even with a skilled team behind him, turning a wild idea into something that looks amazing and tastes even better is a full-fledged process. 91

Folio’s Top Picks:

Arlington Catullo’s Italian facebook.com/catullositalian Galaxy Burgers Bar & Grill galaxyburgersjax.com

Jax Beaches Dockside Seafood Restaurant docksideseafoodrestaurant.com

Gregory Paul’s gregorypauls.com O-Ku o-kusushi.com

Just Kitchen Jax justkitchenjax.com

RP’s Fine Food & Drink rpsjaxbeach.com

Spices Caribbean Restaurant spicesjax.com

Sizemore’s Coastal Kitchen sizemorescoastalkitchen.com

Tabouleh Mediterranean Cafe taboulehjax.com

Neptune/Atlantic Beach Arepa Please arepaplease.com Coop 303 coop303.com North Beach Fish Camp thenorthbeachfishcamp.com Mamasamas mamasamas.com Salumeria 104 salumeria104.com The Local thelocaljax.com Downtown Bellwether bellwetherjax.com Cowford Chophouse cowfordchophouse.com Mayport Egg Boy eggboybreakfast.com The Juicy Seafood Mayport thejuicycofl.com La Casa Leon lacasaleonfl.com Sub Cultured subculturedsubs.com 92 Folio Weekly

Dorothy’s Downtown dorothysdowntown.com Indochine Downtown indochinejax.com

Best Bites Murray Hill Buchner’s Bierhalle buchnersbierhalle.com Chancho King chanchoking.square.site Community Loaves communityloavesjax.com Solazo Taqueria solazofl.com

Mandarin Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant chwinery.com Julington Creek Fish Camp julingtoncreekfishcamp.com Enza’s Italian Restaurant enzas.net Salento Colombian Steakhouse salentosteakhouse.com

Northside & Airport Green Papaya greenpapayaus.com Eleon Pizza & Pastry eleonpastry.com Flying Fish Taphouse flyingfishtaphouse.com New Berlin Fish House & Oyster Bar newberlinfishhouse.com

Jacksonville 93

Folio’s Top Picks:

San Marco The Bearded Pig thebeardedpigbbq.com Taverna taverna.restaurant Tepeyolot Cerveceria tepeys.com Maple Street Biscuit Company maplestreetbiscuits.com

Riverside and Avondale Bartaco bartaco.com

Carolina Jax carolinajax.com Hawkers eathawkers.com Josephine josephineavondale.com Taqueria Cinco taqueria5points.com

Springfield Crispy’s Springfield Gallery crispysspringfield.com Othello othellospringfield.com Tulua Bistro Springfield tuluabistro.com 1748 Bakehouse 1748bakehouse.com

94 Folio Weekly

Best Bites

Southside Purple Roots purplerootsjacksonville.com Rustic 21 Bistro rustic21.com RH Rooftop Restaurant rh.com/us/en/jacksonville/restaurant Zen Dumpling zendumplings.com

Orange Park/Fleming Island/Middleburg Grumpy’s Restaurant grumpysrestaurantco.com Kyodai Sushi Rock facebook.com/KyodaiSushiRock Palermo Puerto Rican Kitchen palermopuertoricankitchen.com The Toasted Yolk Cafe thetoastedyolk.com

Jacksonville 95

Folio’s Top Picks:

Butler Beach & Crescent Beach Back 40 A1A back40a1a.com Paladar Cuban Eatery + Bakery paladarcubaneatery.com Violas eatviolas.com Anastasia Island Beachcomber St. Augustine beachcomberstaugustine.com Nalu’s nalus904.com Terra & Acqua terraacquarestaurant.com Santiago’s Florida Kitchen & Craft Bar santiagosfloridakitchen.com Downtown/Old Town Casa Reina Taqueria & Tequila casareinastaug.com Forgotten Tonic forgottentonic.com Prohibition Kitchen pkstaug.com River & Fort riverandfort.com The Scarlett House thescarletthousestaug.com

96 Folio Weekly

Best Bites Ponte Vedra/Vilano Anejo Cocina anejococinamexicana.com Barbara Jean’s barbarajeansonthewater.com Nona Blue Modern Tavern nonablue.com Trasca & Co Eatery trascaandco.com 1912 Ocean Bar & Rooftop 1912oceanbarandrooftop.com

Vilano Beach Aunt Kate’s aunt-kates.com Cap’s On The Water capsonthewater.com Pesca Vilano pescavilano.com The Reef thereefstaugustine.com Surfside Kitchen surfside.kitchen St. Augustine 97

Photo by Michael Teal

98 Folio Weekly

Blues, Brews, Bourbon

& BBQ

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who came out to support our fundraiser,” said Kevin Stone, interim president and vice president of programming at the Florida Theatre. “Every contribution, large or small, makes a difference and helps us continue our mission of providing memorable entertainment and preserving the Florida Theatre.” Thirteen years in, Blues, Brews, Bourbon & BBQ continues to prove that Jacksonville knows how to rally around its cultural institutions — especially when good music, cold beer and barbecue are involved.

Raises More Than $47,000 for Florida Theatre Words by Teresa Spencer Jacksonville showed up hungry, thirsty and ready to support one of the city’s most treasured landmarks at the 13th annual Blues, Brews, Bourbon & BBQ, held Sept. 10 at Bowing Oaks. The annual fundraiser brought in more than $47,000 for the historic, nonprofit Florida Theatre, combining a very Jacksonville-friendly lineup of live blues, local barbecue, craft beer and bourbon — because apparently supporting the arts tastes pretty darn good.

Photo by Michael Teal

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Guests enjoyed performances by The Beale Street Band and Neil Dixon & Smokestack, while local restaurants, breweries and distilleries kept the food and drinks flowing. Legacy Ale Works took home the Craft Master honor, while Julep earned the title of Flavor Master.

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100 Folio Weekly

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104 Folio Weekly