Friends of Florida Folk share Live Music with your family
I LOVE FOLK MUSIC! I must admit, it is the most down to earth music that reaches into my soul and makes me feel connected to humanity, with all of it’s faces. And thanks to Will McLean, and the Friends of Florida Folk, it helps me to feel connected to Florida. Although I am not a native, I moved here almost 10 years ago, I started attending the Will McLean Festival annually, as well as others, and I truly feel my roots are growing here like the old oak trees in my front yard, and the orange trees in my back yard. Please feel free to enjoy one of my favorite songs: Ain’t Florida Neat by Mindy Simmons (the Sarasota Songbird).
Fortunately, the Friends of Florida Folk is a group of dedicated volunteers determined to “identify, protect, preserve, encourage, and promote folk arts, crafts, dance and music of Florida”. Their website, www.foff.org is fabulous. Immediately you are greeted with wonderful music, and podcasts are offered frequently, and there is much to see and hear while exploring their many pages.
For your LIVE MUSIC listening pleasure, there is a calendar of live folk music events, as well as a page that lists the recurring live music events. These may recur annually, monthly, or even weekly. This information is specific to Florida, and lists events ALL over this state!
There are so many styles represented, but definitely include bluegrass, blues, folk, and much more.
Some of my favorite ANNUAL Florida Folk Festivals that I have attended include:
Will McLean in March in Dunnellon (new location this last year)
Gamble Rogers in May in St. Augustine
Florida Folk Festival in May in White Springs
Friends of Florida Folk Fest in February in Tampa
There are so many more I can’t even name them, but they are all listed on the FOFF website. Look under FOLK LINKS, Category MAJOR FESTIVALS.
We take the family in the camper and attend as many as we can each year. Most ALL of the festivals are very family friendly, and often have wonderful music activities especially for the children in a tent of their own. It is a wonderful immersion into a world of music that cannot be experienced otherwise.
I certainly have my favorite Florida musicians that I seek out, but I’ll leave that for another blog posting.
ENJOY this live music with your children, and teach them to sing all of the wonderful old folk songs ! It gives children a sense of BELONGING to family, to the community, and to history.
One of the things I LOVE about Kindermusik is that incorporates folk music from all over OUR country, as well as countries from all over the world. There are beautiful renditions of them on the CD, AND we learn to sing and do the activities and dances that are the same the world over. When children have a true appreciation of music of different styles and cultures, it also helps them appreciate the PEOPLE of different styles and cultures and helps them feel connected to the world. We all experience many of the same things, and music just helps us see that a bit more clearly.
Merry Melodies,
Debbie Mondale
Kindermusik in Florida 
