Some festivals happen. This one endures.

The 31st Annual Gamble Rogers Folk Festival returned to the St Johns County Fairgrounds in Elkton for three full days — April 10–12, 2026 — and delivered exactly what it has every year since 1995: live folk music, open-air stages, good food, and the kind of crowd that actually listens.

The festival honors the life and legacy of James Gamble Rogers IV, the St Augustine-based songwriter and storyteller who became one of Florida's most beloved folk artists. Rogers rose to national recognition as lead singer and guitarist of the Serendipity Singers — appearing on The Tonight Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and Hootenanny — before building a solo career defined by his gift for blending music with narrative. He died on October 10, 1991, drowning while attempting to rescue a swimmer in distress off Flagler Beach. The State of Florida inducted him into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1998. The festival that bears his name has been keeping that spirit alive ever since.

This year's lineup featured more than 25 musicians across multiple stages, including nationally acclaimed performers Dom Flemons & The Traveling Wildfires, Verlon Thompson, Alexa Rose, and Ed Snodderly. Rounding out the bill were Frank Lindamood, Charlotte Morris, Lauren Woodall, Airtight, Joey Kerr Band, and Angel Chantel & Underbrush — alongside a strong roster of regional and emerging voices carrying the tradition forward.

The YoungFolk Tent made its mark as always, giving the next generation of musicians a stage of their own. Because if Gamble Rogers taught us anything, it's that the story isn't over — it just needs someone new to tell it.

Event photos by Yvette Monell