Hey, Hey, The Fests of May

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Well, now, here's a little list festgrrl has curated with all you need to know about some of the music festivals happening in the Southeast this month. Get out there and support live music while the gettin' is good.

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Swamptown Getdown May 13-14. This inexpensive regional fest happens at the Okeefenokee fairgrounds in Waycross, Ga. Acts include Roosevelt Collier, Parker Urban Band,  S.P.O.R.E., Back From The Brink,  Chillikaya1,  Copperhead South,  dangfly!, Droppers,  Jamie Renee and The Walkers,  Lazy Lightning Lowdive,  Pine Box Dwellers,  Red On Red   and more. Weekend tickets are only $40 through May 7, and then they go up to a mere $50. The fairgrounds has RV and primitive camping, showers and bathrooms, food and craft vendors, and free Wi-Fi. 

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Shaky Knees May 13-14, Atlanta, Ga. Five stages at Centennial Olympic Park and International Plaza. Acts include My Morning Jacket, Florence + the Machine, JJ Grey & Mofro, Jane’s Addiction (playing the whole 1990 classic “Ritual de lo Habitual” album,) Huey Lewis & the News (playing the entire 1983  “Sports” album,) the 1975, St Paul and the Broken Bones, the Head and the Heart, Walk the Moon, the Decemberists, Foals, At the Drive-In, Bloc Party, and more. Tickets: $97 (general admission single-day ticket); $215 (advance three-day general admission; price increases to $236 once advance tickets sell out); $250 VIP options available. Children 8 and younger are free with a ticketed adult. All ticketholders are allowed to enter and exit the festival as needed up to three times per day. You must be scanned upon exit at the gate in order to re-enter that same day. A note of advice: Only tickets sold through frontgatetickets.comand via thewww.shakykneesfestival.com tickets page are 100 percent guaranteed. Be wary of buying tickets from any other outlet. In the event of a festival cancellation, only those purchased through official measures will be refunded

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Orange Blossom Jamboree May 19 – May 22. Near Brooksville, Fla. This is a bargain, low-hassle, big smiles, family friendly festival with excellent music. Highly recommended!! The shady stage is super close to campsites at the intimate and very pretty Sertoma Youth Ranch. Performers (alphabetical) Ajeva, Amber Lynn Nicol, American Song Box, Beartoe, Beeb$ And Her Money Maker$, Ben Prestage, Bengali 600, Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio, Boxcar Hollow, Brown Bag Brass Band, Brown Note,  Come Back Alice, Crazy Fingers, Dean Johanesen, Displace, Dunedin Brewery House Band, Electric Kif, Endless Flow, Este Loves, Flat Land, Free The People, Funkus, Fuzzy Britches, Green Sunshine, Grumpy Ole Trolls, Guavatron, Harmonica Man And The Sawgrass Band, Heather Gillis Band, Herd Of Watts ,Holey Miss Moley, Hymn For Her, Ism, Jeff White And Soul Taxi , Juanjamon Band, Juke, Justino And The Difference, Kaleigh Baker, Last Electric Rodeo, Laura Shepherd, Legacy, On The Avenue, Oranga Tanga, Phunk It, Redfeather, Row Jomah, S.P.O.R.E., Sarasota Steel Pan Band, Savi Fernandez Band, Serotonic, Shak Nasti, Shoeless Soul, Sosos, Suénalo, The Applebutter Express The Bath Salt Zombies X3, The Corbitt-Clampitt Experience, The Groove Orient, The Psychedelic Monks, The Stereo Type, Theoretic, Trigger City Trio, Troy Youngblood And The Soulfish, Uncle John’s Band. A 4-day ticket is only $87 and a 3-day ticket is only $77. Camping options for different prices available on the website.

Hangout Festival, photo courtesy of hit music

Hangout Festival May 20-22, Gulf Shores, Alabama (just over the Florida line)  This is a giant festival with big-name national acts.  Not recommended for little kids, although if you want to bring one, ages 10 and under are free. This is not a camping festival. It is held on the beach, but be aware you cannot bring beach chairs or umbrellas, and you cannot swim because they block off the Gulf from the festival. General admission three-day passes are $289. The Thursday Kickoff Party is $50. There is no festival parking, but area businesses sell spaces and you can buy a shuttle pass for $50. There are A LOT of banned items, including things you would never think would be banned, like already opened cigarette packs, open Chap sticks, e-cigs, certain types of jewelry and more. Seriously. Check out this story for more info. Performers include (sorry about the double commas, long story) The Weeknd,,Florence + the Machine,,Calvin Harris,,Alabama Shakes,,Ellie Goulding,,Walk the Moon,,Fetty Wap,,Lenny Kravitz,,Flume,,Haim,,Cage the Elephant,,Panic at the Disco,,Grimes,,The Chainsmokers,,Jason Isbell,,Miike Snow,,Portugal. The Man,,Moon Taxi,,Big Grams,,3LAU,,Alessia Cara,,Alison Wonderland,,Atlas Genius,,Bass Drum of Death,,BØRNS,,Brett Dennen,,Bro Safari,,Bully,,Coasts,,Coleman Hell,,Courtney Barnett,,Foals,,GIVERS,,Half Moon Run,,HEALTH,,Hippie Sabotage,,Jack Novak,,Jai Wolf,,Jerry Folk,,Judah & the Lion,,Kaleo,,KOA,,Kurt Vile and the Violators,,Lazyboy Empire,,Leon Bridges,,Lizzo,,Lost Kings,,MAGIC MAN,,Mayer Hawthorne,,Meg Mac,,Muddy Magnolias,,Nahko and Medicine for the People,,Pell,,Pepper,,Phases,,Powers,,Raury,,Run The Jewels,,Silversun Pickups,,Snails,,Speaker of the House,,Stick Figure,,Strangers You Know,,The Griswolds,,The Neighbourhood,,The Revivalists,,The Royal Concept,,The Struts,,The Wailers,,Thomas Jack,,Tourist,,Vince Staples, and X Ambassadors.

Florida Folk Festival  May 27-29, Steven Foster State Park in White Springs, Fla. This is a state-run festival, and you can only camp at the festival if you are a performer or a volunteer. There are campgrounds and hotels nearby. Arlo Guthrie plays this year, and you can go look at the state's page which highlights the acts this year. Tickets are $50 for the weekend, $25 for single day. 

 AND for pre-planning, here's one for June:

Rachel Morningstar Hoffman. 

Purple Hatters Ball  June 17-19. Yes, we know it's hot. But this is in a park near the Suwannee River, and there will be a stage at the river during the day, and two other stages in shady areas at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Festival. This is a camping festival, and there are also deals on air-conditioned cabins and golf cart packages. Weekend tickets are $127 through May 13. Papadosio,The Floozies,The Polish Ambassador,Melvin Seals and JGB, Earphunk, DubConscious,The Mantras,Roosevelt Collier Band,The Malah,The Hip Abduction, Sophistafunk,Voodoo Visionary,Catfish Alliance,Trial By Stone,Scott Campbell band with Avis Berry,Funk You,MZG Live featuring Allen Aucoin, Flat Land, Herd Of Watts, Kaleigh Baker with The Groove Orient,The Corbitt-Clampitt Experience, Post Pluto,Squeedlepuss, SPORE with Zahira, Bedside, Leisure Chief, Heather Gillis Band.

This is a charity event, held in the memory of  fester Rachel Morningstar Hoffman (December 17, 1984 – May 7, 2008) who sported a purple hat. She was  23-year-old Florida State University graduate when she was murdered while acting as a police informant during a drug sting. The first of its kind in the U.S., Rachel’s Law, a Florida law that went into effect on July 1, 2009, established new guidelines for law enforcement when dealing with confidential informants.