What is a Florida Cracker?
Popular folk lore explains that the term came from the “cracking” of the whips used by the pioneer cattle wranglers in Florida, known as cowmen or cow hunters.
In the 1500s in Elizabethan England, a “cracker” described a person who engaged in entertaining conversation (as in “to crack a joke”).
By the 1700s, some of the colonial-era British settlers in America referred to those who settled in the southern rural areas as “crackers,” often labeling them as braggards, boasters, and rascals.
In more recent times, in this state it has come to mean a Florida-born resident whose family has roots here.
At the upcoming Cracker Storytelling Festival in Polk County, it means sharing and introducing school children to the creative process and art of learning through live, in-person storytelling.
The festival started in 1989 as the Spirit of the Suwannee Harvest Storytelling Festival, founded by the late renown Florida storyteller Annette Bruce of Eustis, one of the founders of the Florida Story Camp (the forerunner of the Florida Storytelling Festival).
The Spirit of the Suwannee became the Cracker Storytelling Festival in 1991 to honor the pioneer spirit of the “Cracker” in Florida. In 1995, the festival moved to Heritage Park in the small rural community of Heritage Park, located 20 miles south of Lakeland, and 6.5 miles south of Bartow on US 17 North.
In this setting of a small pioneer village, school children are bused in and introduced to storytelling. The festival is mid-week on Wednesday, Nov. 16, and Thursday, Nov. 17, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. It is open to the public. Admission is $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for students. PAYABLE AT THE GATE – CASH OR CHECK ONLY.
More then 600 students are expected for Wednesday’s storytelling and 800 for Thursday. Attendees rotate among five tents. This year, five student tellers will take the stage as Youthful Voices.
This year’s lineup of tellers includes some of our best Florida tellers, including Robin Schulte and Mitchell O’Rear (both will be featured at the Florida Storytelling Festival Jan. 26-28 in Mt. Dora).
Also scheduled at the Cracker Festival are Carrie Sue Ayvar, Katie Adams, Cheryl Floyd, Pat Nease, Windell Campbell and Tamara Green.
In addition, Native American flute player and storyteller Vann V. Samuels and Charles Frierman, an improv performer and children’s storyteller, will perform.
Storytelling is part of the curriculum for all grade levels in Florida and these tellers tell stories to all age groups. But you don’t have to be a school-aged student to enjoy these tellers. The event is co-sponsored by the Polk County Parks and Recreation Department, Polk County Library Cooperative, and the Polk County School Board.
“This is one of my favorite storytelling festivals,” says Carrie Sue Ayvar. “Great people: the organizers, tellers, dedicated volunteers and students and listeners of all ages! Also, one of the oldest in the state – thank you, Annette Bruce, who also co-founded the Florida Storytelling Guild! (Now FSA!).”
Robin Schulte says the Cracker Festival is one of the sweetest festivals she has ever attended.
“It’s a special, enduring event. I’m so happy to be part of it,” she says, crediting “the big-hearted people who organize and host it each year.”
Robin added that the organizers love storytelling and several are accomplished tellers such as Linda Chancey and Connie Trama.
“The county schools support this festival in a big way – bussing in hundreds of area school children each day. The community members come, as well. They come for the stories, for the crafts, for the food, and for the whip cracking contest, a nod to the cattlemen of old Florida for which the event is named.”
For more information: Cracker Storytelling Festival
By Walt Belcher
Dates on poster and in text of article do not match
Thank you, Clare Kibler. Several folks read right over that. It is Wednesday and Thursday. Nov.16 and 17.