The Florida Folk Festival will return for its 70th anniversary after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Musician Del Suggs, who has been a featured performer at the festival since 1983, is looking forward to being back onstage at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs from May 27-29.

Out of the festival’s 14 stages, Suggs’ favorite spot is the River Gazebo Stage which is built over the Suwannee River and made for acoustic performances.

“When you’re on the banks of the Suwannee River, that’s the heart and soul of Florida right there,” says Suggs. “You get to know the people that come to the festival from all over the state, and every year you develop a close friendship and affinity with those folks. It always feels like going home to a family reunion.” 

“When you’re on the banks of the Suwannee River, that’s the heart and soul of Florida right there,” says Suggs. “You get to know the people that come to the festival from all over the state, and every year you develop a close friendship and affinity with those folks. It always feels like going home to a family reunion.” 

Suggs is a fifth generation Floridian. His mother’s family settled in north Florida in the 1790s. As a singer/songwriter and guitarist, Suggs has earned national recognition as a pioneer of “Saltwater Music” and “Trop Rock” among his contemporaries like Jimmy Buffett, Zac Brown, and Kenny Chesney. 

His first public performance was at the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival in Fort Walton Beach in junior high school. Since then, Suggs has continued to tour and write music dedicated to the hurricanes he’s lived through, the sailing trips he’s enjoyed, and the colorful cast of characters he’s met along the way.

His songs “Magic Chair” and “A Hurricane’s Coming” are frequent favorites on his setlist. The latter brought tears to many people’s eyes when he played it in the Panhandle shortly after Hurricane Michael’s devastating landfall.  

“It’s about a time when I was in the 10th grade riding my paper route and delivering newspapers as a hurricane approached Panama City,” says Suggs. “After that show, I realized the power nature has on all of us, and the things we can go through and experience.” 

Suggs says he’s one of many musicians and artists who will never again take performing live for granted after the COVID-19 lockdown. While he didn’t find quarantine to be an inspiring time for songwriting, he did play several shows via Zoom and other online platforms. 

When it comes to writing new music, he recalls fun memories and builds images and language around those experiences. The melodies come naturally once he’s put words down on the page. During his career, Suggs has performed at colleges, universities, and festivals internationally, including Japan’s World Music Festa, Texas’ Kerrville Folk Festival, and Florida’s Sarasota Opera House. 

“So many performers approach an audience with fear or trepidation,” remarks Suggs. “I try to think of them as people that want to be friends with me. I go out there and open up my heart and let them know who I am and let us all become friends with each other.” 

Suggs is looking forward to making many new acquaintances at this year’s festival. On Friday, May 27, he’ll give a workshop on “Instant Songwriting” and then perform at the Will McLean Stage.

Suggs describes McLean as one of the most prolific Floridian folk singer-songwriters of the early twentieth century. He’s known for his tunes about the great hurricane of 1933 as well as Tate’s Hell, which refers to the forest north of Carrabelle where a hunter named Tate went missing for three days. 

Suggs says the Folk Festival is one of the best places to get an education in Florida history and the tales that make it one of the most unforgettable places in the country.

He encourages the recent influx of new Florida residents to enjoy the vastly diverse music, dance and food at the festival. On Saturday May 28, Suggs will share the River Gazebo Stage with his friend and musician, Grant Livingston and swap songs about the state’s rich history. 

“When you go to the Folk Festival you can hear the music from every different folk community who has arrived in Florida,” says Suggs. “There’s Greek music, Haitian music, Appalachian, Bluegrass, and contemporary Florida folk songs. I tend to think of Florida culture as a salad bowl, where different cultures keep their own traditions while they’re here and share them with us.”

As the oldest state-operated folk festival in the country, Suggs is grateful he’ll be able to celebrate 70 years of sharing these traditions with a robust line-up.

Standouts include Bertie Higgins, who hails from Tarpon Springs and will perform at the festival for the first time, The Lee Boys, who were inducted in the Florida Hall of Fame, as well as John McEuen from the legendary Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. With the backdrop of the Suwannee River behind him, Suggs is ready to greet and enchant audiences with his own Florida history.  

“One songwriter said that all songs are love songs regardless of what they’re about,” says Suggs.

“I’ve always been teased that I write love songs about boats and the beach rather than other people. I do write love songs about where we live, and what we do, and that’s part of saltwater music. I love to tell stories about the struggles, tragedies, adventures, and recovery we all have here.” 

Learn More about the Florida Folk Festival
Learn More about Del Suggs
Read this article on the Tallahassee Democrat website