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Lynyrd Skynyrd strikes a chord at Florida Strawberry Festival

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By DAVE NICHOLSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 19, 2010

PLANT CITY - Lynyrd Skynyrd was a big hit at the Florida Strawberry Festival, which this year featured a couple of rock acts as headline entertainment.

The band formed in Jacksonville in the 1960s drew an energetic, enthusiastic crowd on the evening of March 14, the final featured act during the festival's 11-day run.

"What a way to end it," festival General Manager Paul Davis said.

The group drew about 10,000 fans, including 7,000 paid attendance and about 3,000 in free grandstand seats. Since the concert, the festival has received many emails and calls from fans who expressed their appreciation for the performance by the band known for such hits as "Free Bird" and the Southern anthem, "Sweet Home Alabama."

REO Speedwagon, another rock group formed in the 1960s, appeared March 11, a night that was plagued by rain. The group, known for such No. 1 songs as "Keep On Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling," managed to draw a respectable crowd despite the bad weather, Davis said.

Davis said the festival, widely known as a country music venue, will consider more rock in 2011.

"We're going to stay diverse," he said.

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