Welcome to the seventeenth annual

Native Rhythms Festival

November 14-16, 2025

coming to you live from

Wickham Park

Melbourne, Florida

brought to you by

The Indian River Flute Circle and Native Heritage Gathering, Inc. proudly present the seventeenth annual gathering of the Native Rhythms Festival. This three day festival during Native American Heritage Month honors the culture of the indigenous  peoples of the Americas through music, and especially the music of the Native American Flute.

Welcome to the cyberhome of the Native Rhythms Festival. All available information regarding our seventeenth annual festival will be available here. Please feel free to browse.

Hours:

Friday, November 14
Saturday, November 15
Sunday, November 16

9:00 AM to 9:00 PM
9:00 AM to 9:00 PM
9:00 AM to 5:30 PM

Important Address Change

As of September 1st, 2025, the official mailing address for the Native Rhythms Festival is changed to:

Native Heritage Gathering Inc.
1280 Marshall Ct.
Merritt Island, FL 32953

For timely processing of your documents, please direct all correspondence (e.g., Vendor & Exhibitor Applications, Sponsor Agreement Forms, etc.) to this new address.

This website is a living entity that will grow throughout the process of planning this year’s festival to keep you informed with our latest information. Native Rhythms Festival has a presence in the Facebook community! Click here to join our fans and keep up with all announcements regarding this year’s festival. 

[Like” Native Rhythms Festival on Facebook and help us get to 7000 “followers” by 2025 festival time!]

Background on This Year's Theme and Logo

Painted Raven's Annette Abbondanza, creator of this year's logo, introduces this year's theme and logo.

We invite you to help us get the word out about this year’s festival. Click here or on the poster image to the left to access an 8 1/2″ x 11″ PDF file containing our mini-poster (filesize: 407 KB). Feel free to make and distribute copies wherever you think they might be seen by anyone who could be interested in joining us in Wickham Park in Melbourne on November 14-16.

 

An Appeal

Much of what we've built Native Rhythms to in terms of a quality educational and cultural program over the years has come from government and major corporation grants in support of the arts and culture. Even after we had already begun planning for this year's festival (an ongoing year long process), we learned that almost all of our funding from these grants has been wiped out. At this time, we reluctantly must appeal to the general public, and especially you, to help as you can to make this year's Native Rhythms Festival a success and assure the return to support of our Cultural and Arts programming in Florida. Please see below for how to become a sponsor or make a contribution on our Zeffy fundraiser page...

Our Diamond and Platinum Level Sponsors

Our 2025 sponsorship drive is currently underway and we welcome all who wish to provide direct support for this year’s festival by becoming a Native Rhythms Festival sponsor. We offer a five level sponsorship program that puts Native Rhythms Festival sponsorship within the reach of almost all budgets. Those who participate at the highest levels, our Diamond and Platinum Sponsors, will be prominently featured here on our event homepage. Find all of our 2025 sponsors listed on our Sponsors Page.

Click here: (NRF-2025-SponsorLetter&Agreement) if you’d like to download our sponsor invitation letter describing our sponsorship program, and the agreement form to fill out, send in, and become a Native Rhythms Festival sponsor.

If you’d prefer to show your support for this year’s Native Rhythms Festival without going through the formality of mailing us your check to become a sponsor, it’s easy. Just click here or on the fundraiser webpage image to the left, and we’ll take you directly to our Zeffy fundraising account. There you can  put your contribution directly on your credit/debit card. Every donation helps, and we appreciate all contributions.

We are grateful to all of the organizations and individuals whose support makes this event possible, but we give a special recognition here on our homepage to our Diamond and Platinum Level Sponsors:

Diamond Level Sponsors

Candlewood Suites

2930 Pineda Causeway
Melbourne, FL 32940
Phone 321-821-9009
candlewoodsuites.com/melbournefl

Susan Grandy & Tom Welch 
Jacksonville, FL

Platinum Level Sponsors

Joy and Mike Cook
Jekyll Island, GA

Bart & Judy Lipofsky
Rockledge, FL

Anonymous donor on behalf of
             Painted Raven

The Will McLean Foundation, Inc.

Ingrid Schaper,  Folk Events & Outreach Chair
info@willmclean.com
willmclean.com/

Wire 3

Richard Arce
386-287-6065
rarce@wire3.com
www.wire3.com/richard

2025 Headline Performers

These are our 2025 performers. 

Timothy J.P. Gomez

Randy McGinnis

Otter Oliver
CreeAtive Native

Christina Noordover
Winner 2024 Paula Ellis Memorial Flute Players’ Competition

2025 Native Rhythms Festival Cultural Experience

Jim Sawgrass
“East Meets West”

Katrina Fisher
Plains Tipi Encampment

News

-- News --

News

Check back from time to time and see what is happening with those associated with this year’s festival.

Timothy J.P. Gomez just released a new single on July 11th, called Beyond the Fading Light. His website describes this song as: Beyond the Fading Light is a musical reminder that great calm and tranquillity is but a breath away, is but a caress of tone and timbre, one that Gomez expresses so wonderfully here on this new single, and one that surely has to be both a chart hit, and an award winning combination.” 

Learn more at:  timothyjpgomez.com/track/4360504/beyond-the-fading-light

Painted Raven will be celebrating the release of their thirteenth album this November at our Native Rhythms Festival. Their brand new album, titled Best of Times, features a bittersweet and joyous blend of the Native American flute and modern instruments which musically pieces together a beautiful collage of friendships, triumphs and losses, reflection, lessons learned, and gratefulness for the wonderfully fun times shared with friends and family through the years.  Best of Times and other Painted Raven’s CDs and USB albums will be available for sale and autograph at the event.