A festival of music festivals

Music fans should never find themselves without options in Central Florida, but they don’t always get the glut of sonic sweets that are available this weekend.

First up is the Florida Music Festival, which turns a very mature 18 this year. For three days (May 10-12), artists from all over the state will flock to downtown Orlando, performing for free on eight stages.

In the past, FMF has included national headliners such as Lupe Fiasco and Third Eye Blind. Starting last year, organizer Sean Perry and company decided to take the festival back to its roots. “More than ever, it’s really all about the unsigned and undiscovered artists, what we originally developed the concept around,” said Perry, co-publisher of Axis Magazine.

This doesn’t mean you won’t be seeing stars, it just means you’re seeing them before they break out, such as when Taylor Swift played her first industry showcase on an FMF stage in 2003.

Perry also believes festival goers will get a new appreciation for everything the City Beautiful has to offer. “This is the first time in all that time that we really have involved all of downtown,” he said. “You can discover some new music, but you’re gonna rediscover downtown too.”

The festival also includes a series of industry panels on how to up your EDM presence and how to score more gigs for your band. The educational portion is free for Full Sail, Valencia and UCF students, but passes for interested parties are $75. Full festival schedule and details are available at floridamusicfestival.com.

But wait, because even all of downtown isn’t the only place that you can hear a ton of new music. If you’re careful, you can very much on purpose wander into the Accidental Music Festival Marathon, happening at the SoDo District on Saturday (1-10 p.m., 80 W. Grant St., Suite 117, Orlando, free, accidentalmusicfestival.com).

Now in its seventh year, AMF showcases local classical contemporary musicians and composers.

This means everything from free jazz to orchestral video game scores to electro-acoustic arrangements of classic pieces and, well, anything.

“We want to make it accessible and approachable,” said creator Chris Belt. “People aren’t scared to go to an art gallery for contemporary visual art. So we try to use that same approach.”

Produced in part by the Timucua Arts Foundation, of which Belt is executive director, the festival also features workshops and an instrument petting zoo.

The sets by the 14 bands are typically 20-25 minutes. “You don’t have to stay long to hear somethings that are wildly different,” said Belt, 33.

Which could really be the theme for the weekend. Wherever you go, you’ll be hearing something new. tfraser@orlandosentinel.com