Worm Gruntin' and Hope This Weekend

Worms! Music!

One of the quirkiest of all fests  happens in the small town of Sopchoppy this weekend (about a half-hour drive south of Tallahassee on the gorgeous wild Sopchoppy River.) It's the annual Worm Gruntin' Festival, which celebrates the folk custom of rubbing two sticks together to make worms squirm to the surface, and then the worm grunters collect them to use as fishing bait.

Anyhoo, Sopchoppy is a cool, tiny -- and I mean tiny -  community with a recording studio, the Sopchoppy Opry,  and a lot of local musicians, and they like to play. This is not a camping festival, but there is a nice campground nearby at Ochlockonee River State Park along the Ochlockonee River.

Here what the organizers have to say:

This annual event is held each April from 8:00AM when the booths open for business, with the fun continuing until 11:00PM when the dance ends. Throughout the day there will be a wide assortment of live music and other entertainment including games for children and the Wakulla County Horseshoe Championship. We will also crown our Worm Monarch! (It might be a King and/or a Queen this year.) In the evening, celebrants of all ages and points of view will dance under the stars at the Worm Grunter's Ball with one (or both) hands waving free while their pets scramble about wondering what in the world is going on. Free Admittance.

In Tallahassee on Sunday, the one-day  Sounds of Hope Music Fest  happens at Eastside Unity Church. It's $10 (kids under 12 are free) and a benefit for Refuge House,

Here is the schedule:

Main Stage

1:00                    Dayve Stewart & the Vibe

2:00                    New 76ers

2:45                     Harvest Gypsies

3:35                     Sarah Mac Band

4:25                     Tallahassee Boys Choir

Woodland Stage

1:00                    Hot Tamale

1:40                    Ned Devines

2:20                    Royce Lovett

3:00                    Del Suggs

3:50                    Scott Campbell

4:35                    Drew Matulich and Erik Alvar

Community Stage

12:30            Hot Tamale

1:00              Unity Eastside Choir & Band

1:20              Unity Eastside Youth Choir

1:35              TutuOla Cultural Performance Collective

2:00              Raa Middle School Dancers

2:40              Eclectic Acoustic

3:20              East Gadsden High School Chorus

4:00              Karate Demonstration