Don’t ask Jack Shealy what really excites him about Everglades Roots Festival at his family’s campground deep in the Florida swamp and expect an easy answer. It’s tough, and he really can’t put his finger on it. There’s the music, the Trail Lakes Campground itself, the Everglades experience, the Cracker Culture, even the skunk ape he’s certain lurks in the woods and maw just beyond the treeline.
It’s easy to understand Shealy’s struggle. Now in its third year, the festival will bring a hot line up of blues, bluegrass, and folk talent. The show’s line-up boasts two sets of Grateful Dead players Grass Is Dead, along with The Firewater Tent Revival, Free Range Strange, Gator Nate, Daryl Hance PowerMuse, and a host of other acts. In this installment of Sit Down with the Producer, we’ll see what makes Everglades Roots Festival and host Trail Lakes Campground shine is this neck of the Glades.
Florida festival goers will sense something familiar from this fest perched along U.S. 41 in Ochopee. Shealy calls it the “Suwannee vibes.” Beyond bands that frequent the revered campground and festival destination in rural Live Oak, Florida, where Shealy and his wife Maria met 12 years ago, it’s a measure of their hard work paying dividends.
When someone says, “This reminds me of the Spirit of the Suwannee,” Shealy just smiles.
“That’s the hugest compliment for us,” he says. “It’s music mecca.”
From Skunk Ape to Roots Fest
The campground has been praised for its location and sites for years. The idea of hosting a music festival there, however, began years ago when they had the Skunk Ape New Year’s Festival started by his dad 10 miles to the east along US 41, or Tamiami Trail. It had a carnival with food, a Ferris wheel, and South Florida Grateful Dead band Crazy Fingers taking the stage.
“That was my introduction to the live music scene,” he says. Relationships flourished and he knew the park could become a festival scene itself. “I wanted a part of that to be a staple of the park. It’s evolving into what we’re doing here.”
Purchased by the family in the 1960s, the campground is owned by Shealy, his father, David, and his uncle, Jack. Three years ago, they got the idea to throw a fest of their own. To be clear, some LiveNation show this is not; they’re the producers and tickets are available on Eventbrite.
They’re deliberately small and Shealy says he’ll be happy with a few hundred fans show to see a lineup that’s growing as the show date grows closer.
Don’t expect a bunch of vendors; the options are super short. Want booze? BYO. Selling booze invites an insurance headache, he says.
So arrive early; music starts 5pm Thursday. “It carries on into the night,” he says.
“We’re not sweating selling a bunch of tickets,” he admits. “We’re not a big venue. We’re a small festival with a big atmosphere. The bands are awesome. The sound is awesome.”
Ochopee’s Rich History
Ochopee folk are like those of any rural community with a rich history. They’re pioneer settlers, proud and boastful. As with any “Gladesman,” asking Shealy about his family tree that reaches back into Florida lore is to unleash generations of pent up pride. And he’s damned proud of his Everglades legacy and the lifestyle and Florida “cracker” culture that stretches back four generations to the Sunshine State’s 1800s.
You probably know Ochopee, or one of its bragging points. Ochopee lays claim to the smallest Post Office U.S., if you can call it that. It’s really a tiny shed three miles east of the where US 41 crosses State Road 29.
It wouldn’t be swamp life if there weren’t a larger story to be told. The building used to be a storage facility for irrigation pipes of an adjacent tomato farm.
Take 29 south and you’ll find the freshest stone crabs (in season) at Everglades City and Chokoloskee. Head north and you’ll pass by Fakahatchee Strand, where the U.S. Government harvested massive cypress trees to lay the decks of World War 2 era aircraft carriers. The earthen berms that once had rail tracks that mules pulled trees from deep within the swamp still remain and are great for a foot or bike tour.
Want to learn more? He’s happy to tell, and show. Arrive early or stay late. Walk through the Skunk Ape Headquarters – the tourist stop reminiscent of the Gatorama, Gatorland or the roadside attractions that dotted old Florida’s byways. The Shealy family’s unwavering perpetuation of the legend of the glades’ own Bigfoot has earned airtime on such shows as American Roadshow, Smithsonian, and a bit by Stephen Colbert from The Daily Show.
“Any legitimate culture in the world has its folklore,” he says. “Our skunk ape brand is internationally recognized.”
Seeing Glades Culture Firsthand
Or drop a fin to explore the Reptile & Bird Exhibit of huge gators, exotic birds, and their 350-pound reticulated python – not to be confused with the Burmese breed relentlessly eating every glades animal it comes across.
Want a lesson more immersive? Book an ecotour with his family’s Everglades Adventure Tours program that brings the glades to life. Want to get some shuteye in the swamp? Bring a tent or your RV. Or glamp in one of Trail Lakes “safari glamping” accommodations, or tents. Watch the night sky come alive.
Don’t expect to post much to your eager followers.
“We advertise having wifi,” he says, “but it doesn’t work for shit.”
The family came to Florida – and the Everglades – in late 1800s. They settled in Lake City, but that Gladesman culture, with its Keltish DNA, cattle farming, and pioneering spirit, found itself forced south as settlers began to crowd them out. Their early company included freed slaves and renegade, disbanded Seminoles. They shared cultural traits, morals, and family values.
They settled near the tomato farming community of Ochopee (Seminole for “big field”). Though the tales were on their side, history ignored their lineage. For years, the state and federal government whittled away the access along the edges of their traditional hunting grounds.
Crackers: Validated
Then in the 1990s, the crackers were recognized as a distinct cultural group. It took a “landbased study” by the US Army Corps of Engineers. But they earned a nod that not even the family’s gravestones down along US 29 in Chokoloskee (and Indian word meaning, ironically, “Old Home”).
Shealy wants to get his story out his way.
“Everybody always writes the about the people of the Everglades from the perspective of the outsider looking in,” he says. “Despite all the politics and changes, we’re not going to leave, we’re not going to bail. We want to bring awareness. The stories are all about the families behind them. The skunk ape, the environmental issues, the glades. It’s a very cool story.”
And that’s before a band even hits the stage.
Hear it for yourself. Join Shealy at the 3rd Annual Everglades Roots Festival at Trail Lakes Campground (40904 Tamiami Trail E. Ochopee, FL 34141). Early Bird Tickets $60; Gate price $80. Kids ages 12 and under get in free. Call campground to reserve electric/RV sites. Primitive camping available $15 night per person. Call the campground to reserve primitive sites at (239) 695-2275.
Hotel accommodations – and some bad-ass fresh-off-the-boat stone crabs – are available in historic Everglades City, just a 10 minute drive from Trail Lakes Campground. Purchase tickets here: http://bit.ly/EvergladesRootsTix. Learn more at www.evergladesrootsfestival.com.