I went over to Largo Saturday evening for the Bluegrass Strings and Crafty Things event at Largo Central Park, and had a great time. When we arrived the Bluegrass Factory band was finishing their set with a lively version of Rocky Top. After that Matt Mayes entertained the crowd with some fine Banjo and Fiddle work along with some Bass and Mando accompaniment.

During the Matt Mayes set we went back to the food vendors to get some food and were pleasantly surprised at the selection and the quality. I had a very tasty Gyro and some freshly squeezed lemonade. There were other vendors offering kettle corn, ice cream, and other deserts as well.

The next band was Southern Star Bluegrass and they did a fine job, as always. I am a little biased in this case however because they invited me to come up and play mandolin for their entire second set! I had a lot of fun getting a chance to play with those guys and they seemed to have tolerated me as well as could be expected.

The last act of the festival was Claire Lynch. She had Jim Hurst on the guitar and Missy Raines on the bass, as usual. And as usual they both did an amazing job all night. Also playing with Claire was Jason Thomas. Jason plays the Mandolin and Fiddle and actually lives over in Orlando. They were definitely the highlight of the evening, and one of the best shows I have seen live in quite some time.

Overall a great evening and a great festival. Hopefully they will be having this one again next year, I will keep you posted.

Here are a few pictures from the event.(Thanks to Fred Burton for the pictures from early in the day)