Music Archives - Robert Redd Historian & Author

Are you searching for the best events and festivals in Florida in July 2024? Thanks for visiting. Please use the links below to find fun events for all ages.

Florida hosts some amazing events and festivals. Each month I hope to take a look at a dozen or so of these in hopes of bringing you fun, exciting, and unexpected ways to enjoy our state.

If you have an event or know of one coming up that you feel should be highlighted, please drop me a line with as much information as you can, including a website. I’ll be glad to include your suggestions in future posts.

I have listed events in date order.

Key Lime Festival July 3-7 Key West

2024 is shaping up to be the best Key Lime Festival yet. We’re pleased to offer a full 5 days of culinary events for every taste, including favorites from past years like the Key Lime Cocktail Sip & Stroll and Key Lime Pie Hop and new favorites for Key Lime lovers! We’ve also added a few intimate culinary events for our VIP Key Lime lovers!

Want to know more about the history of the Key Lime Pie and how it came to be the dessert of Key West. Read David L. Sloan’s fascinating book, Key Lime Pie: An Intriguing History of Key West’s Native Dessert

BBQ Challenge on Flagler Avenue July 6 New Smyrna Beach

Like other food challenges on Flagler Avenue in New Smyrna Beach, the NSB Bbq Challenge guests will use their tasting passports to visit the host sites and taste sample sized bbq portions prepared in multiple different ways like chicken, beef, pork, seafood. Tasting passports and maps picked up at the Welcome corner of S. Cooper Street and Flagler Avenue on the day of the event. Passports will be for sale on the day of the event starting at 1230 pm however, we strongly suggest pre-ordering your passport on Eventbrite as WE WILL SELL OUT!

Tickets available in advance using the link provided. Tickets are $20 plus service charge.

Orlando Tiki Fest 2024 July 9 Kissimmee

We are proud to present for the third consecutive year the Orlando Tiki Fest 2024 with great celebrities from the industry, where we will have tastings of Rum, and other spirits, including emerging experiences Master Classes, as well as the most important cocktail competition at the national level “Tiki League USA”, heading to the Grand Final of the Latin American Cocktail Championship (LACC) and for the first time more than 20 countries compete for the great BARTENDERS LATAM USA CUP 2024 with great prizes.

Buy your tickets online, starting at $14.99.

Mango Festival July 13 and 14 Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Coral Gables

Make your mango dreams come true at the 2024 edition of Fairchild Garden’s annual Mango Festival. This highly-anticipated, two-day mango fest showcases countless varieties of the succulent fruit as well as an exciting lineup of events and activities that include cooking demos, mango tastings, signature mango brunch, mango lectures, live music, lawn games and more. Food options abound with refreshing mango smoothies, an assortment of food vendors featuring mango-based menus and specialty mango cocktails. If you’d like to grow your own mangos, mango seedlings will also be available for purchase.

The festival is slated to run over the weekend from Saturday, July 13 through Sunday, July 14. Tickets for the Mango brunch, mango tasting, mango smoothie, mango cocktail flight and La Tropical Beer tasting must be purchased separately in addition to festival admission.new sTickets are about $25 per adult. Discounts for seniors and children.

While in the Miami area, be sure to take a visit to the Little Havana area. This incredible area is filled with music, food, history, and culture of all types. To make the most of your time, take a 2.5 hour guided walking tour. From the Bay of Pigs to Santeria to the story of cigar making to the famous chess players you see and hear it. Get recommendations on where to eat and avoid the average, while enjoying traditional Cuban fare. Click the link for details and to reserve your tour.

Ballroom Blues Festival July 13 and 14 Cocoa

Hosted by the Space Coast Convention Center in Cocoa, Florida, Ballroom Bluesfest is a two-day, indoor festival that includes all-day LIVE blues from your favorite national artists! Also, featuring VIP reserved and reserved seating, full liquor bar, food packages, secured VIP car and motorcycle parking, optional overnight accommodations, and no need to worry about the weather!

Featuring acts such as Pat Travers, The Robby King Band, Solomon Hicks, The Boneshakers, and many more, this is an event any blues fan will want to attend.

Tickets start at $66 per person.

Loxahatchee River Heritage Day

July 13 Jupiter Inlet

Join us at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum on July 13th for Loxahatchee River Heritage Day, a unique event designed for adults to explore and celebrate the rich history and natural beauty of the Loxahatchee River region.

Meet local history authors and representatives from various historical societies and museums at our vendor booths!

Admission to the lighthouse looks to be $12 with a couple of discount programs for seniors, children, and veterans.

Hemingway Days

July 16-21 Key West

Ernest Hemingway look-alikes, writers, anglers, and fans of the late author’s work are to gather in Key West Tuesday through Sunday, July 16-21, 2024, for the annual Hemingway Days celebration. The festival honors the legacy of the American literary giant who lived and wrote on the island for most of the 1930s.

Hemingway Days events take place throughout Key West.

33rd Annual Caladium Festival and Annual Car and Bike Show July 26 through 28 Lake Placid (located near Sebring)

Lake Placid, Florida and the surrounding Sebring area are rich with natural beauty, excellent growing conditions, and talented people. While caladiums are the heart of our popular Caladium Festival, the event also highlights our creative community as well as our local heritage and culture.

In addition to caladiums, find a car & bike show, floral arrangement competition, art & craft booths, food, entertainment, and bus tours. The event looks to be free but there is a charge for the bus tours.

They advise not bringing your pet due to the July heat in Florida. The hot pavement can become dangerous for little paws.

To conclude, I want to thank you for reading my listing of the best events and festivals in Florida in July 2024. Check back every month otherwise you might miss out on a great event you did not know about. If you are sponsoring or hosting an upcoming event, drop me a line so I can include it. Maybe we can work together on a blog post and social media posts to promote the event. Let’s hear your ideas.

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Blind Willie McTell

William Samuel McTier (McTear) was born in Thomson, Georgia on May 5, 1898, though some researchers contend that he was born in 1903, and his headstone gives the year of 1901. I have yet to find a source on how he became known as McTell. It is also unclear if young Willie was born blind or lost his sight during childhood. The New Georgia Encyclopedia indicates McTell attended schools for the blind in Georgia, New York, and Michigan. Whatever the origins of his name, Blind Willie McTell of Thomson, Georgia is a legendary blues guitarist with a deep influence in the genre.

While in his teens, McTell and his mother moved to Statesboro, GA, and it was here where Willie learned to play the six-string guitar.

By the 1920s, McTell had left the family home, taking to the road as a traveling musician, playing carnivals, bars, parties, churches, and street corners to earn a living.

Young and talented, McTell became popular in Atlanta, regularly playing at house parties and similar events. By this time, he had upped his game to the twelve-string guitar, an instrument that helped him project his music better in the crowded areas he often played.

By 1927, recording companies had noticed McTell and other blues musicians and he cut his first tracks for Victor Records, following that with a 1928 session for Columbia. The New Georgia Encyclopedia lists multiple studios that McTell recorded for, often under different names. Musicians of the era would often record under similar, but different, names in order to avoid contract conflicts.

McTell was wed to Ruth Kate Williams in 1934. They were to later record several tracks together.

John A. Lomax recorded McTell as a part of the Archive of American Folk Song in 1940. These recordings, held by the Library of Congress, have been released under the title The Complete Library of Congress Recordings.

Commercially, McTell’s sales were declining during the 40s, and he found himself playing more on the streets. He did record for Atlantic Records in 1949 and Regal Records the same year. Atlanta record store owner Edward Rhodes made McTell’s final known recordings in 1956.

Starting in 1957, McTell served as the preacher at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Atlanta and devoted himself to religious music. Blind Willie was to only live a short time longer and passed away on August 19, 1959, due to a cerebral hemorrhage. McTell is buried in Jones Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Thomson, Georgia.

McTell’s 12-String Strut

Located in the downtown Thomson, GA area is a public art exhibit titled McTell’s 12-String Strut, honoring the locally born Blind Willie McTell. There are twelve, seven-foot-tall Stella guitars in the installation, each painted by a different artist. The guitar models were created by Icon Poly Studio and are made of polyurethane.

The installation was presented to the public in 2016 after a Georgia Department of Economic Development report suggested a public art component and providing additional exposure for one of McDuffie Counties most recognized citizens as part of the county’s tourism marketing efforts.

Below, find images of 6 of the 12 guitars that are located throughout Thomson. 11 of these are very easy to find. The 12th however took a bit more digging. It is located outside the McDuffie County Government complex.

Posthumous Recognition

The Blues Hall of Fame inducted Blind Willie in 1981 and in 1990, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame bestowed the same honor.

Blind Willie McTell Georgia Historic Marker in Thomson, Georgia — Georgia Historic Marker in honor of Blind Willie McTell, located in Thomson, GA

A Georgia Historic Marker was unveiled in Thomson, GA, in 1993, near the old railroad station. The marker honors McTell and his legacy. The text (including a few small grammatical errors) reads as follows

Willie Samuel McTear (1901-1959) was born between Big and Little Briar Creeks in the Happy Valley Community. In 1911, he and his mother moved to Statesboro, where he began his life of traveling and performing. Although blind from infancy, Willie developed a lifelong independence based on his acute sense of hearing., remarkable memory and versatile musical genius.

Willie performed and recorded under many names but favored “Blind Willie” McTell. Best remembered for his blues, McTell, had a remarkable repertoire of blues, spirituals, gospels, rags, fold ballads and popular music. McTell played from “Maine to Mobile Bay”, and at theaters, taverns, road houses, churches, medicine shows, train stations, barbecue joints, house parties, and on the streets.

His blues feature his trademark twelve-string guitar played in rapid and intricate patterns of jagged, shifting rhythms accompanying his clear tenor voice. He started recording in 1927 for RCA Victor Atlantic and the Library of Congress. He last recorded in 1956 and returned to McDuffie County shortly before his death. Blind Willie McTell is buried in Jones Grove Cemetery. The Georgia Music Hall of Fame inducted Blind Willie in 1990.

McTell has also played a considerable influence on musicians after him. Performers as diverse as Taj Mahal, the Allman Brothers Band, Ry Cooder, Jack White, and Bob Dylan have covered his songs or singled out the blind guitar player for his influence on their careers.

Blind Willie McTell Music Festival

Blind Willie McTell mural located in downtown Thomson. — Blind Willie McTell mural located in downtown Thomson, GA

Each year the Blind Willie McTell Music Festival, held in Thomson, GA, celebrates the legacy of blind guitar player. Ticket prices for the event seem quite reasonable. The lineup for 2022 included Jimmie Vaughn, the Texas Gentlemen, Joachim Cooder (son of the legendary Ry Cooder), and more. For more information on the festival check their website.

Sources:

Burditt, Erin. “Guitars are Back.” The McDuffie Progress. April 13, 2021.

Jacobs, Hal. ““Blind Willie” McTell.” New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jun 1, 2020.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click these links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. This commission does not affect any price that you pay. All views and opinions provided are my own and are never influenced by affiliate programs or sponsors providing products.

The Rough Guide to Blind Willie McTell is an excellent introduction to the genius that poured from his fingers. It contains 25 key tracks including some of his best known such as Statesboro Blues. There is no full length biography on the life of Blind Willie McTell.

Tag: Music

The Best Events and Festivals in Florida July 2024