plenty of arts and crafts vendors . April marks the arrival of Suwannee Rising , which formed in 2019 to replace the Allman Brothers ’ Wanee fest , and May welcomes the annual Suwannee River Jam – a country music event held at the park for the past 30 years . The summer months are relatively static with the exception of 4th of July festivities , but the music-infused celebrations resume in the fall with Suwannee Roots Revival and Hulaween .
“ Hulaween is probably the biggest festival that we have ,” Gambel said .
Established by the Colorado-based band The String Cheese Incident , Hulaween is an annual four-day event held close to Halloween weekend that attracts around 20-to-30,000 music lovers and over 50 bands and musicians across multiple genres .
“ We don ’ t set our base on one specific genre . We hold festivals and several different events to where every single genre of music is accepted ,” Gambel said .
When Hulaween comes to a close , the park immediately begins preparing for Suwannee Lights , which is a 25-to-30-minute drive-thru and walk-thru experience decorated with over six and a half million lights . Aside from the twinkling displays , guests can also experience a trip to Frosty ’ s village for campfires , hot chocolate and s ’ mores ; a tour of the craft village ; a visit with Santa and the sounds of live music .
“ Any kind of event any kind of thing that we ’ re doing we try to incorporate some kind of live music ,” Gambel said .
This auditory inclusion isn ’ t just limited to festivals but extends to nearly every weekend at the park .
“ We have a music hall and a full-service restaurant on site and – under normal circumstances – we do live music every Thursday , Friday and Saturday night ,” he said .
Being built on the premise of live music became difficult to navigate when the pandemic caused a temporary suspension on concerts and similar events , but the park managed to find a way to resume the integration of live music with the development of their Golf Cart Drive-Ins .
“ For the past year , year and a half , in order to get live music back out into the park – because that ’ s what people miss the most – we
did what we call Golf Cart Drive-Ins and basically you ’ ve got your own little pod , you bring four to six of your own friends , you ’ ve got a nine-by-nine space or a nine-by-11 space , and bring in your own cooler , bring in your own chairs , bring in your own golf carts , sit , chill , relax socially distanced and you ’ re able to listen to live music that way .”
With life slowly getting back to normal , the park plans on scrapping the drive-ins and resuming its regular concert setup in the fall . Until then , whether you want to escape for the weekend and find peace among nature or surround yourself with thousands of people for a heart-pumping music festival , you can find whatever you ’ re looking for at The Spirit of the Suwannee .
2021-2022 | SUWANNEE CHAMBER IMPACT 95