Every Memorial Day weekend, the Florida Park Service hosts the Florida Folk Festival at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park outside of White Springs. Now in its sixty-first year, this event has been named “Florida’s Best Cultural Event” and a “Top Twenty Event” by the Southeast Tourism Society. From the many nationally-recognized musicians invited to perform to the tradition-bearers who come to share their knowledge, there is much for fans of traditional music to enjoy.
This year, our own Haiqiong Deng, an FSU alumna and director of the Chinese Ensemble, will be performing at the Florida Folklife Program area. Haiqiong will be featured as a part of the Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program and will be performing the zheng with her apprentice Crystal Zhang. In addition to the other master artist-apprentice teams, the majority of the presenters in the Folklife Area will be representing the varied cultural heritages and communities from Florida’s Lower St. Johns River region. Featured presenters will include a variety of material artists, representatives of the region’s ecological and fishing traditions, and a number of musical acts. Banjo player Mark Johnson, who was the most recent recipient of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, will exhibit his “clawgrass” style of banjo playing. Multiple representatives of Jacksonville’s hip hop community, including DJ and turntablist Paten Locke, MC Mal Jones, and graffiti artist Michael “Kes” Faulk, will be demonstrating their musical traditions and explaining their history. Mexico En La Piel, one of northeast Florida’s best traditional dance ensembles, will also perform throughout the weekend and be featured during the annual Folklife Area Saturday night dance. Presenters will take turns performing and describing their traditions from the stage each day with assistance from State Folklorist Blaine Waide and FSU musicologist Tim Storhoff, who will act as “cultural interpreters.” When not presenting, artists will have tables set up to demonstrate and discuss their traditions with visitors to the Folklife tent.
The Florida Folk Festival lasts from Friday through Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. For more information about tickets, directions, and the full schedule, visit www.floridafolkfestival.com.
Society for Musicology 