Florida Folk Festival - a Warning

We have written about the Florida Folk Festival at some length, because it was a very special Weekend, with a lot of memories that we want to keep and this blog is our record of what we have done. Don't worry if you find yourself dropping off to sleep reading it, we don't mind at all if you are bored.

Monday

Collapsed, did nothing.

Sunday – Florida Folk Festival Day 3

Started with a visit to the Carillon Tower, a large building where they have hung a set of bells which play out Stephen Foster tunes. Inside there is a dome which has excellent acoustics and a 19^th Century Steinway Piano! Sally joined in with a Shape Note singing workshop (pic). Shape Note Singing is a form of choral singing of hymns, different shape were used to identify the name of the note. The overall effect is quite amazing, Sally really enjoyed it. This was followed by a local gospel bluegrass group who sounded great in the dome(pic). An early lunch saw us at the Azalea stage listening to some Irish music, great fid

dler. Following lunch we planned to do a couple of jam sessions, the first was a gospel jam, followed by a ‘State Park Rangers Florida Song Jam’. As we were sat a number of Rangers (they run the State Parks, nice green military style uniform) arrived with instruments and more or less surrounded us. We thought that they would do a few campfire songs as the only way they could get to perform was to book their own workshop for the folk festival. How wrong we were, each of the Rangers took it in turns to perform, many of them songs they had written themselves. The standard was very high and dispelled completely the notion that Rangers were just ‘suits’.

The one place we had not visited was the ‘Riverside Gazebo’ Stage. This is Gazebo (open sided) built right down by the Suwannee River. During the festival it had been mostly used by local North Florida acts. It has been a growing concern of people that Florida is becoming over developed and losing its natural habitats and water resources. Protest songs are one of the main genres for Local Florida Folk. The Suwannee is the focal point for these environmental issues. The Stephen Foster Park is on the banks of the Suwannee and brings together the people, the protests and the place. The Riverside Gazebo becomes the focus for all of these concepts. On the final afternoon of the festival, (the unofficial closing ceremony), the gazebo slowly fills as people come to listen to local singers, a lot of the big name musicians come to support, almost as homage to the fight to save Real Florida Values. As the sun starts to set, the final item, in a by now packed Gazebo, is always ‘The Old Folks At Home’ (Way Down Upon The Swanee). Stephen Foster’s most famous song, Florida’s State Song and the anthem for environmental protestors. It was one of those moments that are quite spiritual in nature, a moving experience to be a part of. (I will try to write about the environmental concerns that are becoming very important some time soon)

The evening was filled with more dancing for me and the final concert for Sally. By 8.30 we were both absolutely worn out and came back to the Trailer.

We had enjoyed a fabulous musical weekend. We had met a lot of very nice people, too numerous to mention, but if they read this blog, thanks a lot for being so friendly.

Saturday – Florida Festival Day 2

As we got so cold last night, we prepared ourselves even better for this evening, and took the quilt from the spare bed with us to the festival. The days have been beautiful, warming gently and by midday it is up into the 70’s (above20 C), but those clear skies have meant cold nights.

As we parked, Mary parked next to us and that started a good conversation with her and her friends. I wandered off to watch the Cajun workshop, but it was too crowded to join in, nice music though. Sally beetled off to watch the Irish dancing. I went to learn more about Bluegrass Jamming Etiquette from ‘Doctor Donna’, very interesting. After the session we met up with Harvey from the Briar Pickers and was able to give him the CD of the Cleveland Bays. While we were talking, Dr Donna comes up to chat to them as well, but she was not looking well and she mentioned that she needed to take a Vitamin B12 injection, could anybody administer it for her. Well that started something as I called Sally (Sally takes a daily injection of VitB12) and she came to help and by the time we had finished we were firm friends with Dr Donna and her partner, but missed the rest of the morning.

After our picnic, we went to an ‘Old Time Music’ Jam session. Now to the undiscerning eye Old Time Music (OTM) is the same as Bluegrass, but oh no. A circle is made (the same as BG), but on choosing a song everybody plays the melody, there are no instrument breaks. As bluegrass is dominated by the banjo, OTM is dominated by the fiddle, predominant key is ‘D’, as opposed to the ‘G’ of bluegrass. It also does not need a bass, and allows such instruments as dulcimer and autoharp. OTM is played for contra dances.

It was fun and much more like band sessions with The Ridings. I had a good chat with a really nice fiddler called Ellis, who was local to White Springs (Hi Walter, [I will explain to others later]) and has a horse so he takes part in the Olustee re-enactment as a cavalry man.

In wandering around various stages, we met another lovely couple called Pete and Lou. Pete plays the fiddle and is ardently an OTM man, so I was able to find out a bit more about it. It seems that bluegrass is an offshoot of OTM, starting with Bill Monroe in 1946. OTM tries to keep to original tunes from the 17^th to 19^th century.

We now had a few moments to search out Walter and Merri,( the people who had invited us to their party via a comment on the blog) as he had said that he could be found at the Beer Tent. Merri was not there, but Walter welcomed us warmly and we had a pleasant chat for a bit. It seems that he found our blog because he lives in White Springs (Hi Walter) and has linked to Google to send him an email every time his town is mentioned and as we mentioned our arrival earlier this week, he very kindly invited us to meet him.

Over dinner we again, by coincidence, sat with Gene and Deanna and got along really well. He had been working in Uganda in the 70’s, when Sally was there, so we had a time of reminiscing.

I then disappeared to the Contra dance in the evening. Had a really good time. All the dances are long ways dances with two couple sets, with one couple (the inactive couple facing, or contra to, the active couple) and they are all progressive, with you keep with your own partner. It was great fun. In the first dance I danced with a girl from Tallahassee called Vicky and we stayed as partners for the evening. She was very nice. Her boyfriend didn’t like dancing and poor Sally, who loves dancing, is not able to.

Sally (warmly wrapped in the quilt) went to the evening concert at the Amphitheatre and listened to some good music. After the dance I took Sally back to the Trailer and then returned to the festival campground for the jam sessions. It was an amazing experience, walking through the campground, pitch black, no street lights, subdued light from the tents and RV’s crammed in together, every few yards a space with the glow of a campfire, with perhaps a dozen people huddled round, singing or playing, drinking or talking. As you walk through the campground the sound perspective changes every few yards, distant singing, or close up instruments, banjo, bass, fiddle, fading and swelling as you walk through. It put me in mind of what a civil war encampment may have been like. Had a good time jamming round one of the campfires, with some of the members of Briar Pickers and others. A very good day.

Friday Florida Folk Festival Day 1

The day started early and cold. We have hit a cold spell. The temperature at night is dropping to almost freezing and we are not prepared for cold weather, so we have had to sleep with the heating on, but we got as many warm clothes as we could carry for the anticipated cold evening ahead. We arrived as early as we could.

The programme is a 56 page booklet describing the performances on 15 stages at half hour intervals plus the craft, environmental and food activities. So we just took it as it came.

Our first stop was for Appalachian Clog dancing, very nice. I tried a bit, but rubber soled trainers do not make for easy movement on the floor. This was followed by catching up with some friends we had found at the Withlacoochee Festival, known as the Briar Pickers. They are a very nice 6 piece band who play a variety of good music, much of it of British origin. After that we had a wander round, looking at the food and craft stalls, having a hot drink and talking to some people from Jacksonville. After that we went and watched the Cross Creek Cloggers perform some more Appalachian and Irish clog and step dances. Each of the stages (apart from the Amphitheatre, which was the gently sloping side of hill with a stage at the bottom) was a sideless marquee set up amongst the oak trees of the State Park. You could find the various stages and event areas by walking on paved paths through the forest, which Sally’s wheelchair could negotiate. After lunch, we moved from stage to stage soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the warm midday sunshine. Sally was able to take a rest.

Although there are many food concession stands in the festival, the main meals are provided by a number of local churches. Each church has a small section of a large canopied building. You can get a complete main meal for $5.50 (now about £2.60). They cook most of the food at home and bring it in for the festival eaters. They all serve a similar menu of ‘Southern Comfort’ cooking. Fried chicken, chicken and veg cooked with pilaf rice (pronounced pee-laf), chicken with dumplings (imagine a pale yellow chicken casserole with large, but empty ravioli pillows), shrimp gumbo (shrimp in a vegetable and tomato sauce, mixed with rice), or smoked ribs. All of which come with 2 sides, or vegetables. Collards (anything from turnip tops to chopped spring greens), black eyed peas, sweet potatoes, beets (beetroots), mash, field peas, baked beans (smoked and very sweet). Followed by sweet potato or pecan pie.

After our culinary treat we returned to the Heritage stage where I was able to take enjoy doing (yes doing) some contra dances, which Sally watched for a while before going to the evening concert. I was knackered, but it was great fun. I then joined Sally to watch a brilliant guitarist called Sam Paccetti. By about 8.30 we were too cold (yes too cold !!!!!!!) to stay any longer.

During the day, we, of course, ran into a number of people to talk to. It’s funny how even with a large number of people you will often see the same people again and again. We had run into a very nice couple at Withlacoochee Festival, Harvey and Jane. They had introduced us to their band, The Briar Pickers, and we kept seeing them as they moved from venue to venue. In the evening they played the music for the Contra dance and they very kindly gave us the CD of their music and the music they play for the Battle of Olustee Re-enactment. Very enjoyable it is too.

We shared a meal table with a very nice couple from Melbourne (East coast Florida, not Australia, sorry Kirsty), Gene and Deanna. I also met a lovely lady called Mary, who I partnered a couple of times in the contra and we chatted for a while.

You may have noticed that, in our comments on the blog, we had an invitation to a party from Walter and Merri. When we drove home, we passed the house, but were too cold and tired to stop and join in, but decided we would make contact later on.

Florida Folk Festival - A Warning

We have written about the Florida Folk Festival at some length, because it was a very special Weekend, with a lot of memories that we want to keep and this blog is our record of what we have done. Don't worry if you find yourself dropping off to sleep reading it, we don't mind at all if you are bored.

Terry getting up close and personal with the wildlife

Yesterday, Terry was fastening his jeans up, when he felt something wriggling in one leg. To our amazement, out shot a small lizzard and hid in the corner of the trailer. Don't know who was most upset - Terry or the lizzard!!! The poor thing was very carefully put outside. Don't know how long it had been in the trailer - it may have been transported from Withlacoochee for all we know, so it may be miles from it's home and family!
Later, we were tramping round a trail at Olustree ( will explain all later) when I noticed that Terry had some spider web trailing from his sweatshirt. As I mentioned this, Terry turned round and I screamed as I saw a very large - at least two inches wide - spider sitting on his chest - Terry nearly had a panic attack as he frantically brushed the spider off and he was dancing up and down as I sat shuddering. Spiders are my pet hate!!!! Terry always laughs at me when I get him to remove any spiders at home, but I didn't see him laughing this time!! So, Ron does not have the monopoly of getting up close and personal with the Florida wildlife any more!!
Olustree is a fascinating State Park. It commemorates a battle ( the largest in Florida) between the Confederates and the Union during the Civil War. Over 10,000 soldiers were involved, The Union losing nearly 2,000 and the Confederates losing about 900. The Confederates won this battle in 1864, as the Union were trying to stop Floridians sending beef, salt and other supplies to their army further North. Unfortunately, it didn't affect the final outcome of the Civil War in 1865.
I always feel that war is so futile when you consider the vast number of people affected by war, soldiers and their families etc. But, I suppose, you cannot alter man's inability to coexist peaceably with his neighbour, when some people want power and to take over what other's have.
Today, Thursday, we have had a very quiet day, reading, doing the washing and soaking up some lovely sun. We had a quick reccy. round the State Park where the festival is being held, to suss things out. A peaceful day.

Oops - Dropshots address was wrong

Some of you may have tried to access Dropshots and failed. My Dropshots account should actually be www.dropshots.com/terryfy.
Mostly it is pictures of sunsets/rises that I have taken. I will try to add more.

Shopping day

The weather has changed - up in the high 70's F during the day with brilliant sunshine and low humidity but plummeting to 38 last night. Brrr, it felt very cold last night and this morning till the sun warmed us up!!! We even had to put the heating on to warm our old bones and an extra layer on the bed.
Today we shopped for food for the week and weekend as are planning to be at the Florida Folk Festival on Friday, Sat and Sunday and don't expect to have time for shopping in case we miss anything! We have bought an electric fan heater to save using the propane gas as electricity is already paid for in the campsite fees and I (Sally ) bought some warm clothes as I only had a limited supply of warmer things. Carol, you would be OK if you were here now - you could wear the things you found too hot!!!!
We found an IHOP, International House of Pancakes, and had lunch there, having pancakes, of course, as pudding after having siloin tips with onions and mushrooms, with hash browns and eggs first. Delicious!
We might go down to the camp fire tonight - the owners of the park light a huge bonfire each evening at the fire circle and it's a good way of meeting other campers.There is also a hall for socialising in and they have a library where I can exchange books. Carol and I had taken books to exchange but didn't manage to find a site where we could do this.
All in all a very quiet day.

Bonfire Night

(Written at 8.30 pm USA time on Mon 5th November)

Just realised that it's Bonfire Night in the UK and we are missing our usual trip to Stockton Riverside to see the firework display. Shame!!!!
We have moved up North to a little place called White Springs in order for us to attend The Florida Folk Festival next weekend. It's being held at the Steven Foster State Park - now who's Steven Foster I hear you say - well he's the chap who wrote the song 'Suwannee, how I love ya, how I love ya, my dear ol'Suwannee', 'Way down upon the Suwannee River', and surprisingly 'Beautiful Dreamer'.
On our way to get some information from the State Park, after we had set up camp, we went over the bridge spanning the Suwannee River. It was quite something to actually see the river we've sung about so often. Actually, it was just a typical small river like so many others in Florida - edged with pretty trees, but exciting never the less.
There was a fascinating old wooden building dating from 1865 in the centre of White Springs. It was a two storey construction and looked just like the buldings you see in westerns but painted white instead. We realised it must have been built at the end of the Civil War and was a store as the original sign was just about visible painted onto the front.
White Springs is so small that it doesn't even have anywhere to eat out, so we drove (about 10 miles)down to White Lake for a steak.