Florida Folk Festival, May 24-26, celebrates Florida people and culture, showcasing Americana music

Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs

The Florida Folk Festival began with the music: It was 1953, and Pete Seeger and the Weavers had a big hit with Leadbelly’s “Goodnight, Irene.”  Folk music was exploding with acoustic guitar, coffee houses, banjos, beatniks and sing-alongs.

Now some 70 years later, the Florida Folk Festival is still held every Memorial Day weekend, and you’re sure to hear plenty of folk music. But the event has broadened to celebrate Florida’s land, people and diverse cultural heritage.

The Florida Folk Festival is held annually on Memorial Day weekend on the banks of the historic Suwannee River at Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park in White Springs, and it is ranked among the top 20 festivals in the southeast.

In addition to a full schedule of performances, you’ll find plenty to amuse and educate.

The festival focuses on traditional crafts — everything from split rail fences to henna tattoos.

And the food is not the same-as-everywhere festival food. Look for blue crab burritos, Jamaican patties, shrimp gumbo or Beulah Baptist Church’s chicken and dumplings dinner.

The mission of the Florida Folk Festival is to keep cultural traditions alive, so it emphasizes demonstrations and workshops. Visitors can learn how to square dance, make a pine needle basket or try out playing a mandolin.

There will be more than 300 performances by Florida’s greatest folk and roots artists, as well as folk, blues, gospel, country, Latin, jazz, bluegrass, Caribbean and zydeco music.

The schedule of performers is an eclectic mix of familiar names and new discoveries.

2024 performers

Jim Stafford, born in Winter Haven, is a singer, songwriter, musician, and comedian. He recorded “Spiders & Snakes,” “Swamp Witch,” “Under the Scotsman’s Kilt,” “My Girl Bill,” and “Wildwood Weed” in the 1970s. Stafford headlined at his own theater in Branson, Missouri, from 1990 to 2020. Stafford is self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ, and harmonica.

The Firewater Tent Revival. Described as a “whiskey snortin’, happy-go-lucky, good-time band,” The Firewater Tent Revival is a psychedelic bluegrass band from the small fishing village of Mayport, located near Jacksonville Florida. Not quite Bluegrass, Country or Rock, this is “Psychedelic-Party-Grass.” Storyteller style lyrics, using bluegrass instrumentation, done jam band style, by a high-energy btring Band makes you want to dance.

Papaloko & Loray Mistik Loray Mistik – or “Mystic Thunder” – emanates from the hills and villages of the ancient land of Haiti.

The Lee Boys are an African-American “sacred steel” ensembles. This family group consists of three brothers, Alvin Lee (guitar), Derrick Lee and Keith Lee (vocals) along with their three nephews, Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar), Alvin Cordy, Jr. (7-string bass) and Earl Walker (drums). Each member began making music at the ages of 7 and 8 in the House of God church they attended in Perrine, Fla. Born and raised in Miami, each of The Lee Boys grew up in the church where their father and grandfather, Rev. Robert E. Lee, was the pastor and a steel player himself. “Sacred steel” is a type of music described as an inspired, unique form of Gospel music with a hard-driving, blues-based beat. The musical genre is rooted in Gospel, but infused with rhythm and blues, jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop, country and ideas from other nations.

The Currys. The Currys have been staking their claim within the Americana music scene since 2013, when vocalist/guitarist Tommy Curry quit his teaching job and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, to join the harmony-based folk-rock outfit newly formed by brother Jimmy Curry (vocals, guitar) and cousin Galen Curry (vocals, bass). The band, who cut their teeth playing the oyster bars and listening rooms of the Florida Panhandle, have since written and released three full-length albums.

Bing Futch uses Appalachian mountain dulcimer, Native American flute, ukulele and a board full of stomp-boxes. He celebrates traditional and modern Americana music with passion, humor and boundless energy. Bing switches the channels on style and tone with every song, from his pop, rock and blues originals to world music and showtunes.

Karibbean Groove is a dance band that performs a variety of Caribbean styles often performed in clubs or for important cultural celebrations. In addition to reggae, they play konpa, a meringue-style Haitian dance music with roots in Africa, and zouk, a fast-paced carnival beat that originated in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The band members were born in Haiti but met at church in Immokalee, where their families worked on farms.

Ben Prestage has created his own signature sound, Deep South swamp music, by melding juke joint blues, Delta blues and Piedmont blues with finger-style guitar and steel-guitar work.

Jeanie Fitchen made her first appearance at the Florida Folk Festival in 1966. Since then, she has earned accolades and awards for her performances, songwriting and recordings. Her work focuses not only upon the culture, history and environment of Florida, but also the basic human dignity of all people.

Planning your visit

At the gate, tickets are $40 per day for adults; $80 for the three-day weekend. Children 6 to 16 are only $5 for the weekend. You can purchase tickets online in advance for $35 per day for adults and $70 for the three-day weekend. Kids tickets are $5 in advance. Here is ticket information.

Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park, 11016 Lillian Saunders Drive/U.S. Highway 41, White Springs FL 32096. Phone: 386-397-4331. 45 shaded sites with electric, water, picnic table and fire ring. All campsites are ADA accessible. Other activities include bike riding, fishing, hiking, paddling and wildlife. Camping fee: $20 plus $7 daily utility fee. Reservations: Book online at reserve.floridastateparks.org ($6.70 one-time booking fee)

Related links

• Florida Rambler article about Stephen Foster State Park
• Website for Florida Folk Festival, including scheduled performances and ticketing.