We are so overjoyed to be planning, preparing, and promoting for the inaugural Florida Trail Fest February 7-9! This festival is made possible by our partners at FT Thru Hike, a non profit dedicated to educating and supporting long distance hikers on the Florida Trail, and our generous sponsors ZPacks, Florida Hikes, Cover Y’r Assets, and the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation. Our aspiration is to have a community event not unlike the Appalachian Trail’s famous Trail Days in Trail Town USA, Damascus, Virginia.

Florida Trail Fest is open to the public and free to attend. Plan to be there for the main event on Saturday February 8th and consider camping in or around scenic Stephen Foster Folk Culture State Park.

The Florida Trail Fest will serve as a reunion of thru-hikers past and present, outdoor enthusiasts and trail community members. Offerings include vendors, non-profit information booths, live music, outdoor activities like hikes, yoga, and paddling, a hiker parade, and so much more! We hope to grow this event each year, bringing thousands of visitors to the charming town of White Springs, a Florida Trail Gateway Community right on the Suwannee River. Proudly the first ever Florida Trail Gateway Community designated back in 2006, the town White Springs is full of culture, natural scenery, and is a town that truly appreciates the great outdoors.

The Florida Trail is truly a labor of love and we are filled with gratitude for the close-knit community that rallies around this amazing natural resource to protect, maintain and simply enjoy the Trail. We hope you will join us in celebrating the Florida Trail.

Where's Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park?

11016 Lillian Saunders Drive, White Springs, FL 32096

Camping for thru-hikers is in the primitive spots made by the Boy Scouts along the FT.

Vendors will be setup in the park near the clocktower.

Currently the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park campgrounds are full.

Here are some other sleeping options if you are a visitor.

Vendors

The Backbone of the Florida Trail Fest

Sponsors

The Best Partnerships For Florida Trail Fest

Lodging

Accommodations such as camping, B&Bs, and more.

FTF Schedule

An outline of scheduled events FTF (subject to change)

Interested in helping promote this event? Feel free to click the button for our latest flyer to print and share. Thanks!

FTF FAQ

February 7th-9th. Festivities begin at 5pm on Friday, at 8am on Saturday, and at 8am on Sunday. Visitors may arrive at 9am on Friday to ask questions at our tent while we get setup, then head downtown to eat and shop local. (or you can hang out and we will put you to work!)

This is a free event no fee to attend. Although, donations are appreciated floridatrail.org/donate

The campground is full so please visit floridatrail.org/fest for more info on places to arrange your stay.

The campground at Stephen Foster is now full. If you are a thru-hiker please reach out to us as we have some primitive spots along the FT for you.  Please pre-register here.

You are awesome. There are two ways you can help, Volunteer at the festival and/or Donate to the cause. Florida Trial Fest is a grassroots festival and every donation counts in a big way. Donations can be made to the organization by clicking here! If you would like to volunteer Just click here!

We are excited to say YES!!! please RSVP for the event and note your interest in the special merch. We will have FTA Socks, shirts and all sorts of other merchandise.

Florida Trail Fest is not your normal arts and crafts festival. If you are a trail related shop, outdoor club or organization, you may be a great fit. All of our vendor booths are hiking, backpacking, trail and outdoor focused. So if you have a booth with that target in mind, please reach out to our event Director at [email protected] and they can point you in the right direction. Also, you can register as a sponsor or vendor by clicking here.

ABSOLUTELY! Florida Trail Fest is a family friendly event. Come camp out, or just visit for the day, You don’t even have to be a hiker, just come see what the Florida Trail is all about and meet some of the most awesome people! (including Smokey Bear and Speedy the Turtle and the Chick-fil-a Cow)

 You may have a fire in a self contained fire pit. You cannot build a fire ring, or burn directly on the ground. Please remember your LNT rules, pack it in, pack it out, Never leave a fire unattended. and extinguish it completely with water.

Nope, it’s just 3 days, we’ll all smell, nothing new. but if you have to, please donate to the park so you can use the campground facilities.

You can bring your pet as long as they are well behaved, on a leash and you clean up after them. (LNT goes for pups too)

Visit floridatrail.org/fest-guide, you’ll be able to see all the weekends activities including our sponsors, vendors, food trucks, entertainment, Guest speaker and more!

We will have directional signage at the park showing where parking is.

There are a few trees, but there are limited space to hang your hammock, please bring a tent as a backup. 

Please reach out to us at [email protected] or call Abe at 352-554-6062