Winter Garden Music Festival Set for 10/5-7

The Winter Garden Heritage Foundation announces its 7th Annual Winter Garden Music Festival to be held Friday, October 5th – Sunday, October 7th on Plant Street in historic Winter Garden, Florida.

This extremely popular outdoor festival attracts tens of thousands Central Floridians for a weekend filled with live performances from Central Florida's finest musicians performing over 30 different music genres including: Country, Jazz, Blues, Americana, Classic Rock, Southern Rock, Bluegrass, Alternative and much, much more.

New for 2012 is a nationally known main stage act for the last performance on both Friday and Saturday nights.

Friday night: Edwin McCain, rootsy singer/songwriter with ties to jazz and soul as well, hails from Charleston, South Carolina. Signed to Atlantic's Lava subsidiary in 1995, McCain and his band debuted with Honor Among Thieves. The single "Solitude" gained support at VH1, prompting the release of 1997's Misguided Roses, which scored a mainstream hit in the song "I'll Be." Messenger followed in 1999 with another love-themed success, "I Could Not Ask for More," and Far from Over appeared two years later. McCain's next studio effort, Lost in America, was issued in April 2006 on Vanguard. McCain's next album, 2008's Nobody's Fault but Mine, featured a collection of R&B cover songs, while his tenth studio album, 2011's Mercy Bound, relies on original tunes written and performed with fellow singer/songwriter Maia Sharp.

Saturday night: Shawn Mullins, an Atlanta-based folksinger best known for his Top 10 hit "Lullaby," Shawn Mullins was serving as a member of the U.S. Army Airborne Infantry Division when he released his first self-titled cassette (issued on his own label, SM) in 1989. Soul's Core, released in 1998, marked his first album for a major label, Columbia Records; it also signaled his critical breakthrough, as the single "Lullaby" became a chart-topping, Grammy-nominated hit. The album eventually went platinum, paving the way for an anthology of the singer's early work with 1999's The First Ten Years. Toward the end of 2000, Mullins released the official follow-up to Soul's Core, Beneath the Velvet Sun. The EssentiAl Shawn Mullins collection arrived in 2003, followed by 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor, his first release for Vanguard Records, in 2006. Mullins kept himself busy for the rest of the year, co-writing a number one hit for the Zac Brown Band ("Toes") and releasing Live at the Variety Playhouse, which captured one of his sold-out performances in Atlanta. Two years later, he released his eleventh studio album, Light You Up, which continued the rustic, Americana-styled thread he'd been spinning since 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor.
Also new in 2012 will be an additional staging area for acoustic musicians.

Bring your family and your chairs and plan to spend the day. This fun-packed fall event boasts two stages, tons of food vendors and beer stations and over 100 arts and craft vendors for early holiday shopping. Your children will also love the Kid Zone and other family friendly activities.

All proceeds generated from the Winter Garden Music Fest will benefit the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation; a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization that preserves local history and creates cultural experiences that will enrich the lives of families for future generations. Sponsor, vendor and musician information, including links for video submissions, is available on the website at www.wintergardenmusicfest.com.