20th Annual Will McLean Festival To Be Held Next Weekend

The 20th annual Will McLean Festival (WillFest) will bring performers from all over Florida to the Withlacoochee campground near Dunnellon April 3,4,5. The celebration will feature singer/songwriters who have performed at every WillFest from the beginning. This year will also present for the first time six new teen performers.

Veterans include Dale Crider, Frank Thomas, Jeanie Fitchen, Whitey Markle and the Swamprooters and the groups Patchwork and Southwind.

On Saturday, April 4, Amy Carol Webb will host "Rivers Roll On," a tribute to WillFest.

Set among huge oaks, and surrounded on three sides by the Withlacoochee River, the venue provides a perfect setting for a festival honoring Florida's premier folk singer.

Will McLean roamed from the Panhandle to the Keys, writing and singing poems, stories and ballads in praise of his beloved Florida.

As early as the fifties it was clear to him the destruction man was bringing in his wake to the state's fragile ecosystem.

In 1996 the state honored him by induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.

More than fifty groups and solo performers from Blountstown to Coconut Grove come to share their music on multiple stages.

Workshops in songwriting, guitar, fiddle, banjo, harmonica, dulcimer,and autoharp are offered at no charge. Special creative children's activities will be under the direction of Mona Stuart

The top three winners of the Best New Florida Song Contest, Garrison Doles from Orlando, Chris Kahl from Cocoa Beach and Carla Bak from Inverness will perform their winning songs at noon Saturday, April 4 on the Magnolia Stage.

Advance weekend tickets are $30. At the gate weekend admission will be $35.

Friday only admission at the gate is $15; Saturday: $18 and Sunday only $15.