I just happened upon the Bluegrass Festival at The Shell Factory. Saturday was a nice day and I thought it would be fun to bring over to go on the bumper boats at the Shell Factory. We got a lot more than that, because when we arrived the Bluegrass Festival was there.

I ended up spending about 7 hours there with my family and we had so much fun! We ate the best ribs I ever had. The meat just fell off of the bone.

We saw a few animals, which my kids thought was greatest part of our day. I shopped of course, and then settled down to a Bluegrass Punch, and listened to more music. The music was non-stop.

This was the first one Bluegrass Festival we’ve been too and the music, food, drinks and friendly atmosphere was great. To add to the fun, everywhere you looked people had on beads.

What fun!

One of the events on The Shell Factory’s calendar of 70 events in 70 days was the ‘Kite Festival’ which was held on Sunday, November 18, 2007. When was the last time you flew a kite? The Shell Factory hosted event included the kite festival and contest with great prizes for the winners.

Adults and kids alike attended the event and this is just a little sample of the people and kites that flew high above The Shell Factory and Nature Park in North Fort Myers, Florida.

So next time someone says to you “go fly a kite“, do it! You would be surprised how relaxing it is!

To see other upcoming events click here to view our calendar of events for our 70 events in 70 days celebration.

Interesting history on kites from the Wikipedia.org.

“Approximately 2800 years ago the kite was first invented and popularized in China, where materials ideal for kite building were readily available: silk fabric for sail material, fine, high-tensile-strength silk for flying line, and resilient bamboo for a strong, lightweight framework. The kite was said to be the invention of the famous 5th century BC Chinese philosophers Mozi and Lu Ban. By at least 549 AD paper kites were being flown, as it was recorded in that year a paper kite was used as a message for a rescue mission.[1] Ancient and medieval Chinese sources list other uses of kites for measuring distances, testing the wind, lifting men, signaling, and communication for military operations.[1] The earliest known Chinese kites were flat (not bowed) and often rectangular. Later, tailless kites incorporated a stabilizing bowline. Kites were decorated with mythological motifs and legendary figures; some were fitted with strings and whistles to make musical sounds while flying.”

November 17, 2007

The Shell Factory was the host to another 70 events in 70 days Celebration for their 70th year Birthday/Anniversary - the Southwest Florida Bluegrass Festival.

Here’s a few pictures from the event. Don’t forget to check our event calendar to see what events we have lined up next.

For those of you that don’t know what bluegrass music is, here’s a little information on the subject from the Wikipedia.

“Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. It has its own roots in Irish, Scottish and English traditional music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of immigrants from the British Isles (particularly the Scots-Irish immigrants in Appalachia), as well as that of rural African-Americans, jazz, and blues. In bluegrass, as in jazz, each instrument takes a turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others revert to backing; this is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment. Bluegrass is distinctively acoustic, rarely using electrical instruments.

Unlike mainstream country music, bluegrass relies mostly on acoustic stringed instruments. The fiddle, five string banjo, acoustic guitar, mandolin, and upright bass are often joined by the resonator guitar (popularly known by the Dobro brand name). This instrumentation originated in rural black dance bands and was being abandoned by those groups (in favor of blues and jazz ensembles) when picked up by white musicians (van der Merwe 1989, p.62). Instrumental solos are improvised, and can frequently be technically demanding.

Debate rages among bluegrass musicians, fans, and scholars over what instrumentation constitutes a bluegrass band. Since the term bluegrass came from Bill Monroe’s band, The Blue Grass Boys, many consider the instruments used in his band the traditional bluegrass instruments. These were the mandolin (played by Monroe), the fiddle, guitar, banjo and upright bass. At times the musicians may perform gospel songs, singing four-part harmony and including no or sparse instrumentation (often with banjo players switching to lead guitar). Bluegrass bands have included instruments as diverse as the resonator guitar (Dobro), accordion, harmonica, jaw harp, piano, drums, washboard, electric guitar, and electric versions of all other common bluegrass instruments, though these are considered to be more progressive and are a departure from the traditional bluegrass style.”

Photograph by Alene Greto

Photograph by Alene Greto

Photograph by Alene Greto

Photograph by Alene Greto