"Joe always thought a bar was more of a community hub than a bar." That line comes from McInnis, one of the Flora-Bama's partners, and the bar quotes it on its own Frank Brown Festival page. The 2026 schedule backs it up. For Perdido Key, the best stretch of the 42nd Frank Brown International Songwriters' Festival is Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 9 to 11. Those three nights, the Flora-Bama Main Stage runs evening songwriter rounds with no wristband at the door.
The festival runs Nov. 5 to 15 and brings more than 200 songwriters to venues along the Florida and Alabama coast. According to the Mullet Wrapper's Oct. 14 to 28 issue, this year adds up to about 600 performances on roughly two dozen stages, all coming from an event that started in 1984. Most of that action is in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Pensacola and Foley. On the island, the Mullet Wrapper's venue list names just the Flora-Bama and Lillian's Pizza.
A festival named for the man who closed the place
The festival honors Frank Brown, the Flora-Bama's night watchman for 28 years. He retired at 91, and he was "the last person the performers saw at closing time," as the bar's page puts it. Mr. Frank died in 1988 at 93. His story once ran on Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story."
The festival still lives at that address. Its mailing address on the official venue page is 17401 Perdido Key Drive, which is also the Flora-Bama's street address. The venue directory splits the Flora-Bama into four separate stages: the Main Stage, the Dome Stage, the Tent Stage and the Flora-Bama Church. Each one plays by its own rules, and that's why the weeknight detail matters.
The 6:30 p.m. line in the Main Room
The official 2026 schedule shows the same break on most nights of the festival. At 6:30 p.m. there's a "$25 cover charge begins" entry for the Flora-Bama Main Stage, with wristbands "required to enter or remain in the Main Room." All the afternoon rounds before it are listed as public.
Here's how that works out across the 11 days:
| Festival day | Main Room after 6:30 p.m. |
|---|---|
| Thu. Nov. 5 through Sun. Nov. 8 | $25 wristband |
| Mon. Nov. 9 through Wed. Nov. 11 | No cover break listed; rounds marked public |
| Thu. Nov. 12 through Sat. Nov. 14 | $25 wristband |
| Sun. Nov. 15 | Afternoon rounds public; closing show ticketed on the Tent Stage |
The cover applies only to the Main Room. On opening night, Thursday, Nov. 5, the Dome Stage hosts Wild Women Writers' Night, emceed by Rhonda Hart, starting at 5:55 p.m. At 6 p.m. it moves on to Ivey Campbell, Sadie McLayne and Summerlyn Powers. Both are listed as public, while the Main Stage behind them moves to wristbands at 6:30. The pattern repeats Thursday, Nov. 12, when Hunter Clark, JT McCaffrey and Ben Chase play a public 6 p.m. Dome round just before the Main Room cover starts.
On a weekend night, then, the free option is to come in the afternoon or stay out of the Main Room. Midweek, neither applies.
Monday through Wednesday, the Main Room stays open
On Nov. 9, 10 and 11, the evening Main Stage lineups read like a weekend bill, and every round carries the word PUBLIC. Each day starts with a 2 p.m. open mic hosted by Tony T-Bone Montgomery.
- Monday, Nov. 9. Bo Roberts, Mark Sherrill and Chad Wilson open at 6 p.m. Next up at 7:10 are Rick Carter and Anthony Crawford with Savana Lee, also known as Sugarcane Jane. At 8:20, Sonny Throckmorton and Rafe Van Hoy play with Rhonda Hart and Mac Walter.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10. Nick Branch, Rusty Budde and Mac Walter start at 6 p.m. Christina Crystal, Cass Hunter and Donna Slater follow at 7:10, then Kyle Wilson, Isaac Moore and Elaine Petty at 8:20. Marc-Alan Barnette, Webb Dalton and Alan Rhody close it out at 9:30.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11. Nick Biebricher, Sadie McLayne and Taylor Craven play at 6 p.m., followed by Michael Anthony Curtis, Garrett Miles and Donny Carpenter at 7:10. Austin Gray, Sam Glass and Lisa Christian take 8:20, and the night wraps at 9:30 with Darrel Roberts and The Heat, which is Lucinda Rowe accompanied by Mick Connolly.
The big midweek ticketed events are off the island. On Tuesday, the OWA Theater in Foley hosts a ticketed evening with Coco Montoya at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, the Coastal Arts Center in Orange Beach hosts SongwritingWith:Soldiers presents A Night to Honor Veterans, featuring Will Kimbrough and Mark Nesler. That show is $15 and starts at 6:30. Meanwhile, the Flora-Bama's own room is free on both nights, with four rounds Tuesday and four more Wednesday.
Lillian's Pizza, a few miles east
The festival's other Perdido Key venue is Lillian's Pizza at 14514 Perdido Key Drive, according to Visit Pensacola's Perdido Key dining guide. On opening night, the official schedule has Riley Yielding and Doug Drake at Lillian's at 6 p.m., followed by Bo Roberts and Mark Sherrill at 7:10. Both rounds are public. Lillian's shows up again and again across the 11 days, and every listing there is marked public. That makes it the easy choice on a weekend evening for anyone who'd rather skip the wristband line.
Roberts and Sherrill turn up again on the Flora-Bama Main Stage on Monday with Chad Wilson. That gives islanders two free chances to catch the same writers four nights apart.
Sunday, Nov. 8, from church to the Tent Stage
The first Sunday has the most going on at the Flora-Bama, and almost none of it costs much. At 9 and 11 a.m., the Flora-Bama Church features Donny Carpenter, Michael Anthony Curtis, Garrett Miles, Mike Pyle, Doug Stokes, Scott Todd and Cindy Richardson Walker. Both services are listed as public.
That afternoon, the Tent Stage hosts the annual Autism Auction benefiting Autism Pensacola. The Mullet Wrapper reports doors open at 3 p.m., music runs from 4 to 7, and admission is a $10 donation. This year's theme is "Where Music Meets the Mission." The paper says co-chairs PatsyAnne Stout and Paula Rogers coordinate the event. It quotes Rogers: "Many of our donors return year after year, and that generosity is what makes this event possible."
Sunday evening goes back to the usual pattern, with the Main Room cover starting after the afternoon sets.
The bookends: Halloween, a vendor market and a closing show
The Flora-Bama lineup starts filling up before the festival does. The bar's Halloween Costume Contest is Saturday, Oct. 31, with free entry. Registration runs from 6 to 8:30 p.m., and the contest starts at 9 in the big tent. The Mullet Wrapper also reports a Flora-Bama kickoff party on Nov. 4, the night before the first scheduled round.
On Saturday, Nov. 7, festival day three, the Perdido Key Area Chamber of Commerce lists a free Fall Vendor Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with local vendors, food and music. That wraps up well before the Main Room cover starts that evening.
The festival ends where it began. On Sunday, Nov. 15, the Main Stage runs public afternoon rounds at 2:10 and 3:20 p.m. Andy Haynes holds a raffle drawing at 4:20. At 5 p.m., the Festival Closing Show with the Craig Campbell Full Band and Shelby Raye takes the Tent Stage. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 on the day of the show.
Keep the app open
Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin on Oct. 9 as a Category 2 storm, according to the Florida governor's office. The festival schedule page says lineups "may change due to unforeseen circumstances" and points attendees to the official festival app for updates and performance reminders. That app is the place to confirm a Monday-night round before heading down Perdido Key Drive. You can also call the festival office at 850-492-7664.
Festival week packs our end of Perdido Key Drive, and some of us start wondering what our own place on the key is worth with that much going on next door. If that's you, Top Tier Team is happy to put together a free home valuation, no strings attached, and we'll gladly trade notes on which Flora-Bama round was the best of the week.
