Hurricane Nicole Abbreviates 2022 Native Rhythms Festival

What the NOAA track projection looked like at 1PM on Wednesday, November 9th. Nicole was to come ashore just south of our festival grounds in Melbourne.

Uncertainty surrounded the 2022 Native Rhythms Festival as we entered the week of the festival because Hurricane Nicole, offshore central Central Florida and headed our way, threatened intolerable weather and safety concerns. 

By 5AM on Monday, November 7th, a large, disorganized system north of the Greater Antilles out in the Atlantic became well enough organized to be classified as a subtropical storm and given the name Nicole. This was just 3 days before Thursday’s first day of the 2022 NRF. 

By noon on Wednesday, November 9th, Nicole passed over the northern Bahamas and strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane. This is when our team was supposed to be out marking out vendor booth locations in our Vendor Village. The winds here became stronger and rains became heavier.

At 3AM on Thursday, November 10th, Nicole made landfall just south of the festival grounds in Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane. Our schedule showed vendors would soon be arriving to set up. But that couldn’t happen. Nicole began her turn north to begin her northwesterly trek across the Florida peninsula, but further west than projected earlier, and moving faster than many hurricanes we’d seen. By 1PM on Thursday, the eye was all the way across the state near Tampa, while we were still in the outer bands.

Our NRF board met and decided to proceed with the weekend’s festival, but with setup delayed to Friday and other Friday activities cancelled. It was a gamble, but the weather Friday was beautiful and continued through the weekend. Fortunately, we only had 2 vendors cancel, and neither of these was due to the storm. Our deep appreciation to all of our loyal (and new) vendors who showed up in spite of the uncertainty to help make the 2022 Native Rhythms Festival a resounding success.

Background on This Year's Theme and Logo

Painted Raven’s Annette Abbondanza introduces this year’s theme and logo.

Index

Getting the Word Out

Brevard County Proclamation Presentation

Friday Evening "Meet & Greet" Social

Hosted by the Candlewood Suites

[Photos below provided by Native Rhythms Festival's 2022 official photographer, Jennifer Brooks.]

The Performers

Randy Granger

Lowery Begay

Dock Green Silverhawk

Otter Oliver & CreeAtive Native

Shelley Morningsong & Fabian Fontenelle

Rona Yellow Robe

Painted Raven

Billy Whitefox

The Vendors & Exhibitors

Food Vendors

Alston’s Chicken

Ms. Ozetta’s Grill On Wheels

Space Coast Hot Dogs

Beachin BBQ

Flute Maker Vendors

Flight Feather Flutes

Joe Loftin Flutes

Medicine Wind Flutes

Painted Stick Flutes

Red Wind Flutes

Spiral Flutes

Turtle Mound Flutes

Willow Creek Woodcraft

Woodsounds Flutes

Arts & Crafts Vendors

Art by Mindy

Backwoods

Ca’s Creations

Inner Mountain Stones & Woods

Kaye’s Wares

Little Fox Creations

Morning Crow Creations

Native Andes

Old Rock Creations

Pine Away Baskets

Snyder’s Honey

Tralwalker Crafts

Alex Jalapa & T. Rose

Gray Dog Concepts

Timothy J.P. Gomez

Wild Sage – Native American Jewelry

Exhibitors & Sponsors

Bath Fitter

Boy Scout Troop 520

Brevard Backyard Beekeepers, Inc.

Hippy Kids

Indian River Flute Circle

Sol Essence

Wild Horse Rescue Center

Native American Heritage Exhibits

Jim Sawgrass - "East Meets West"

Katrina Fisher - Plains Tipi Encampment

2022 Competitions

Art Competition

Art Competition Entrants

2022 Art Competition Winners

1st Place - Anne Faye

2nd Place - Timothy J.P. Gomez

3rd Place - Carol Crotts

Flute Makers' Competition

2022 Flute Makers’ Competition – Winners

1st Place – Brent Haines

2nd Place – Joe Loftin

3rd Place – Danica Patrick

Flute Players Competition

1st Place – Joe Loftin

2nd Place – Ellen Hall

3rd Place – Sharon Ellis

Workshops

Dock Silverhawk – Stepping Back in Time.

Johnny Dame – Honoring the Sacredness of Water

Joyce Bugaiski – Beading on a Loom

Joyce Bugaiski – How to Make an Edge Stitch

Linda Resnikoff & Martha Pessaro – South Meets North – Children’s Workshop

Lowery Begay – Understanding Pow Wow Drumming

Nelson Rios – Balancing Rhythm with Timing

Holly Harris (Painted Raven) – Rhythmic Connection: Drumming and Fluting Together

Timothy J.P. Gomez – From Start to Finesse: Creating Patterns of Notes for Perfecting Skill & Creativity

Tommy Ransom – Flutes in the World of Electronics

Silent Auction & Raffle

This is just a sampling of the nearly 100 items, baskets, and flutes that were available.