FolkFest St. Pete began as a small folk art and music street festival with a three-prong goal — increase awareness of Creative Clay Cultural Arts Center, celebrate the imagination and talent of those physically, mentally and/or developmentally disabled artists the center serves via its community-outreach art programs, and raise funds so that it could continue to do so. FolkFest has expanded over the years into a big two-day event that drew nearly 30,000 people last year. The fifth annual edition promises to deliver with a big bill of Florida talent — including the funk, Afro-beat and soul-geared 3rd Stone from Gainesville, Tampa's own jammy rockers COPE, and Miami-based sacred steel gospel-funk makers The Lee Boys — as well as several national artists to make things interesting, among them, critically-acclaimed alt-folk rock songstress Patty Larkin, and roots and newgrass rockers Railroad Earth. The festivities culminate with a song circle on Sunday evening.
Details: Open 10 a.m. Sat., noon Sun., Oct. 1-2, Central Avenue, between 9th and 11th Streets, St. Petersburg, free admission; VIP packages available for $50.
Saturday: Rebekah Pulley (10 a.m.), A Fragile Tomorrow (11:15 a.m.), 3rd Stone (12:30 p.m.), COPE (2 p.m.), Delta Rae (3:30 p.m.), Patty Larkin (5 p.m.), Martin Sexton (6:30 p.m.), Railroad Earth (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday: Sean and Dominic Kelly (noon), 3rd Stone (1 p.m.), Lee Boys (2:30 p.m.), Catie Curtis (4 p.m.), Song Circle feat. Patty Larkin, Catie Curtis, and Sean and Dominic Kelly (5:30 p.m.).
This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2011.