As we continue to hope for an end to this long hot summer, fall festival season is kicking off. It’s time for Suwannee Roots Revival at The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park. Although the festival is in Florida, this annual October event always seems to bring the first cool evenings of the season. We can’t always predict the weather, but we can predict a magnificent weekend at The Suwannee Roots Revival, which takes place this year October 8-11. Headliners this year are Trampled By Turtles, Leftover Salmon, Sam Bush, Eddie 9V, Shinyribs, Peter Rowan and Shadowgrass. They’ll be joined by festival regulars Donna the Buffalo, Verlon Thompson, Mosier Brothers, Jim Lauderdale, The Grass is Dead and many more.

The music takes place on four stages. The main stage is Cosmo’s Amphitheater Stage located in a natural amphitheater under the cover of beautiful cypress trees, the Music Farmers Stage @ The Back Porch is a much more intimate indoor stage,  the Dance Tent Stage has a great vibe under its circus tent and the Music Hall Stage, which is indoors with air conditioning as well as a bar and snack bar. There are also two small stages in the campground for late night and early morning picking and jamming The Bill Monroe Shrine and Slopryland. The jams that have taken place on these stages and throughout the campground over the years have become stories of legend. The amount of picking and jamming that go on all night throughout the campground is unmatched by any other festival I’ve attended.

The Spirit of Suwannee Music Park is a full fledged campground with a General Store, snack bar and bar, golf cart rentals, canoe rentals, cabins, RV sites with full hookups and primitive camping, spread out on 800 acres of land nestled along the scenic and historic Suwannee River. If you’ve never attended a festival like this, where you camp on site, Suwanee Roots Revival at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park is the place to start. The park hosts numerous festivals throughout the year but its Suwannee Roots Revival and Suwannee Spring Reunion are the two most intimate and my personal favorites.

If you’re looking to kick off fall with a little camping in a cypress swamp nestled along a beautiful historic river Suwannee Roots Revival is exactly what you’re looking for. It’s just under a 7 hour drive from New Orleans making for a relatively easy commute.  This festival is a family friendly event with a kids area hosting entertainment, and activities for children throughout the weekend. Whether you are a tent camper, an RV camper, or one that would enjoy the confines of a private cabin, the Suwannee Music Park has something for you. Make sure you look for the campsite with the WWOZ flags flying and stop by and say hello. Hope to see ya in the swamp.

www.suwanneerootsrevival.com