Three winners have been named in the 2018 South Florida Folk Festival Singer-Songwriter Competition that took place on Saturday, January 13, at Fort Lauderdale’s Hugh Taylor Birch State Park.

Randy Brown (Mineola, Texas), Lauren Heintz (Winter Park, Florida) and Cecilia St. King (Delray Beach, Florida) were selected by a panel of judges from among a field of 12 finalists – each of whom performed two songs on the opening day of the festival that is presented annually by the nonprofit Broward Folk Club. As winners, each receives the Vic Heyman Songwriting Award – a $200 cash prize and an invitation to perform at the 2019 festival. They also were afforded the opportunity to perform in-the-round during the second day of this year’s festival, as were the other finalists.

As previously noted on AcousticMusicScene.com, the South Florida Folk Festival’s singer-songwriter competition is co-presented by Reba Heyman. Along with her late husband, Vic, Reba has been an integral part of the folk community in South Florida and nationally for many years. The couple has been known for decades for their generous financial backing of folk festivals and artists. They formerly ran a concert series in Rockville, Maryland known as Vic’s Music Corner, have established a scholarship fund for artists, and served on the boards of several music festivals.