Island Hopper Songwriter Fest kicks off this weekend providing ‘Irma fatigue’ relief

Reporter: Amanda Hall
Published:
Dave Fenley

FORT MYERS, Fla. – After Hurricane Irma ripped through Lee County, the fate of the Island Hopper Songwriter Fest was unknown.

But most of the festivals participating restaurants and hotels agreed, the storm won’t stop the music!

Over the next several days, the sound of music will fill the air throughout the Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel. More than 80 singer-songwriters are gathering here for the Fourth Annual Island Hopper Songwriter Fest, to perform at different venues on Captiva, Fort Myers Beach and downtown Fort Myers.

“We need it right now. With hurricane Irma out there, there was a lull in business and business flow. We had to shut down our doors for a few days to let the storm pass and wait for the power to come back on. The Singer/Songwriter Festival is going to reignite the economic flow to our area. No better way to do it.”

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Adam Wood

Most of the shows are free with the exception of 5 ticketed events including 3 new headline acts; Lindsey Ell, Brook Eden and Raelynn, each performing their own style of country music.

The festival’s organizer, the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau, will hand out cards with instructions on how to help with the area’s hurricane relief efforts.

“Music has a healing power and we are also sympathetic by those effected by the storm, so we are going to partner with the Southwest Florida Community Foundation for the Hurricane Irma Relief Fund and so we are going to encourage visitors to donate back.”

Pinchers at the Marina at Edison Ford has been added to the list of repeat venues. There’s now 2 pool side concerts and the Songwriter’s round-table at Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center.

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The Island Hopper Songwriters Festival is held in late September and early October to help boost business in Southwest Florida, at a normally slow time.

Reverie Lane

All performances at Matanzas on the Bay will take place on the lower deck and will be free and open to the public. The waterfront restaurant will offer guests $13 buckets of LandShark throughout the festival weekend.

Matanzas on the Bay also offers free boat dockage and car parking for guests throughout the weekend, giving festival-goers easy access to the wide array of scheduled performances.

PERFORMANCES: 

Friday, Sept. 29, singer-songwriters Taylor Alexander and Carrie Welling will perform at 7 p.m., followed by Audrey Spillman and Bill LaBounty at 8:15 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 30, Adam Wood and Julia Cole will perform at 2:30 p.m., followed by Reverie Lane at 4:15 p.m., Jack Michael and Brinley Addington at 6 p.m., Will Bowen and Dave Gibson at 7:15 p.m. and Dave Fenley and Paul McDonald at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 1, will feature performances by Granville Automatic at 1:30 p.m., followed by Bobby Tomberlin and Bill LaBounty at 3 p.m.

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