Florida Folk Festival

The Florida Folk Festival - click for latest information on the 2003 festival

 

2002 was a rousing success -  celebrated it's 50th Anniversary:

Endangered folk festival proves its worth again
I watched a full moon rise behind moss-draped oaks while friends of the late Don Grooms honored him with a full night of nothing but music by and about him, and decided that, for an event that was supposed to be on its last legs earlier this year, the Florida State Folk Festival seems unusually alive and well. 5/28/02

 Check the new WhoseFlorida for updates

News Clips updated 04/15/04

(news clips have not been kept updated - check archives)

May 23 - 25, 2003
Over 200 Performances per day

Stephen Foster State Park

White Springs, Florida 

Each year in May for half a century, the 850-acre Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in the little hamlet of White Springs on the Suwannee River rings with the sounds and sights of three full days and nights of Florida's finest music, dance, and stories. Produced by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida State Parks the annual Florida Folk Festival presents the "roots" of Florida's many cultures as performers gather from little towns and large cities throughout the Sunshine State.

Since 1953, these folk artists have gathered to celebrate Florida's land and its people. As one of the oldest state folk festivals in America, the event now brings 30,000 concert-goers to the festival site each year to hear more than 200 music shows a day on multiple stages. This is Florida's premier heritage event, with more than 600 of Florida's greatest folk and roots artists — a river of talent! The Florida State Parks and Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park especially, welcomes all citizen’s and visitors to the 50th annual Florida Folk Festival as we celebrate a half-century of folk heritage. We invite you to come out for the very best Memorial Day Weekend event in Florida! The Florida Folk Festival was voted "Best Cultural Festival in Florida" in 2000 and 2001 by FLORIDA LIVING and FLORIDA MONTHLY magazines!

News Clips

Back for its 50th celebration of Florida folk heritage - May 24 - 26, 2002
Politics in folkieland: Music soars above din
When I first got involved in Florida folk music in the 1980s, I promised myself to stay out of the politics associated with the movement.
Chorus of protest helps save folk festival
Department of Environmental Protection steps in to keep the show going Way down upon the Suwannee River, the Florida Folk Festival shall rise again. Secretary of State Katherine Harris and David Struhs, chief of the Department of Environmental Protection, announced Thursday that the show will go on - despite budget cuts that threatened the woodlands weekend of music, dance, storytelling and frontier craftsmanship. The difference will be that DEP's state parks system will run it, instead of Harris' historical resources division.
Folk festival finds new home with state parks - TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Folk Festival, which appeared to be headed for extinction on the eve of its 50th anniversary, will be placed under control of state parks officials, Secretary of State Katherine Harris said Wednesday.... "I've had as many phone calls about this festival issue as John McKay's tax plan," said Stansel, D-Live Oak.
... An Orlando-based television and music production company, Eagle Productions, is negotiating with the environmental agency to manage the festival for the state under contract, officials said.
Transplant might save Folk Festival
TALLAHASSEE -- When lawmakers sacrificed two staff positions and $39,000 from the Florida Folk Festival last month to help plug a budget deficit, many thought that ended the popular spring event after 50 years.
Save The Florida Folk Festival -The Florida Folk Festival celebrates the state's rich history. Each year thousands of people have gathered at the Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center in White Springs to listen to fabled musicians or watch crafts experts such as fishing net makers or cigar makers ply their nearly forgotten skills.
Folk fest struggles for survival
Supporters hope 50th anniversary won't be the last
Tallahassee supporters of the Florida Folk Festival say they are trying to prevent the 50th annual event in White Springs from being canceled.
Florida Folk Festival funding cut - TALLAHASSEE -- Months before the Florida Folk Festival's 50th anniversary, state lawmakers cut its $36,000 budget, leaving the celebration's future in doubt. -
Between 10,000 and 20,000 people attended the Memorial Day festival each year to listen to bluegrass, Appalachian, Cuban or Cajun music at a state park on the Suwannee River. -- The festival was run by the Secretary of State's office until funding was cut in the final moments of the Legislature's special session. Lawmakers trimmed more than $1 billion from the state budget earlier this month.
Budget cut may doom folk festival
Tallahassee · It has played host to the Bellamy Brothers, fiddle great Vassar Clements and country stars such as Billy Dean and John Anderson, but a 49-year tradition of Florida folklore and music could be coming to an end.-- 
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of one of Florida's oldest and most cherished summer events, state officials have pulled the plug on the Florida Folk Festival -- the victim of a last-minute cut that saved the state $36,000 out of a $48 billion budget.

 


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