GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance is a mission-based 501-(c)(3) organization that produces four music/dance festivals a year in three different states across the east coast. GrassRoots brings multi-cultural communities together through the magic of music, art, dance, education, wellness and sustainability.

The original Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival began in 1990 as a benefit concert to support a local AIDS organization in Ithaca, NY. The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival has become an internationally-recognized event with a focus on traditional and contemporary roots music and dance from all over the world.

Thirteen years later, in the spring of 2003, the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival was launched on the 75-acre farm called Shakori Hills. The SHCAC organization was created to keep the spirit of the festival alive throughout the year on the property. In 2013 the SHCAC and the festival paired up and purchased the land with the help of fundraising for a down payment and a community mortgage. Dreams continue to come true as the arts center has begun to flourish and come into its own.

In 2012, the festival moved down south again, for the winter, having found an amazing site, the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, just off the coast of Miami, FL. This year celebrated the 7th anniversary of the Virginia Key GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance.