Philadelphia Folk Festival | |
---|---|
Genre | Folk, Country, Blues, Folk rock |
Dates | four days on the third week of August |
Location(s) | Upper Salford Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Years active | 1962-2022 |
Founded by | Kenneth S. Goldstein, Bob Siegel, Gene Shay, David Baskin, Esther Halprin, et al |
Website | www |
The Philadelphia Folk Festival is a folk music festival held annually at Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. [1]
The four-night, three-day festival is produced and run by the non-profit Philadelphia Folksong Society and staffed almost entirely by volunteers. [2]
The event hosts contemporary and traditional artists in genres under the umbrella of Folk, including World/Fusion, Celtic, Singer/Songwriter, Folk Rock, Country, Klezmer, Blues, Bluegrass, Hip/Hop, Spoken Word, Storytelling, and Dance.
Each year the event hosts over 35,000 visitors and nearly 7,000 campers at the Old Pool Farm. [3] The event presents over 75 hours of music with local, regional, and national talent on its stages.
The Festival is one of the longest-running folk music festivals in the United States, since it began in 1962.[ citation needed ]
According to the Philadelphia Folk Festival's "About Fest" website, "The Philadelphia Folk Festival emerged as a pivotal event in folk music history in the United States. Inaugurated in 1962 at Wilson Farm near Paoli, Pennsylvania, the festival featured renowned artists such as Reverend Gary Davis, Bonnie Dobson, and Pete Seeger. Despite expecting 2000 attendees, the festival drew in 2500 individuals, showcasing the growing interest in folk music. Over the years, the festival became a platform for musicians to share their talents and connect with like-minded individuals, contributing to the resurgence of folk music in the 1960s. This inaugural event laid the foundation for Philadelphia as a center for folk music culture". [4] [ better source needed ]
The Philadelphia Folksong Society has presented the Philadelphia Folk Festival since 1962. Gene Shay [5] and folklorist Kenneth S. Goldstein [6] founded the festival, along with George Britton, Bob Seigel, David Baskin, Esther Halpern, Tossi Aaron and others. Shay acted as Master of Ceremonies since its inception until shortly before his death and Goldstein served as Program Director for the first 15 years. [7] The festival was originally held on Wilson Farm in Paoli, Pennsylvania. [8]
The Thursday night Camp Stage show has previously been hosted by WXPN radio for the nationally syndicated World Cafe with David Dye. [3]
The Philadelphia Folksong Society presents the Philadelphia Folk Festival and has had a full-time, year-round staff. [9] The most recent PFS Executive Director, Justin Nordell, served in that capacity from 2007-2023, while past E.D.s include Lauri Barish and Levi Landis.
This festival went online in 2020 and 2021, raising over $200,000 to support artists out of work, as live concerts were cancelled caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [10] The Festival returned as a hybrid and in-person live event for 2022.[ citation needed ]
The hosting organization, the Philadelphia Folksong Society announced a pause in production, cancelling the 2023 festival for the first time in its 50 year history. [11]
The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a nonprofit charitable organization with an annual summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The festival features a variety of artists and music from around the world and is sure to include a number of local artists.
Eugene Norman Yulish, known as Gene London, was an American television personality and fashion designer. He was the creator and host of a long-running, local children's television program, Cartoon Corners. Also known as The Gene London Show, the program aired on WCAU Channel 10 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1959 to 1977, and had a broadcast reach throughout a significant portion of the Midatlantic region of the United States.
WXPN is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format shows. WXPN produces World Cafe, a music program distributed by NPR to many non-commercial stations in the United States. The station's call sign, which is often abbreviated to XPN, stands for "Experimental Pennsylvania Network". The broadcast tower used by WXPN is located at, in the antenna farm complex in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.
World Cafe is a two-hour-long, nationally syndicated music radio program that originates from WXPN, a non-commercial station licensed to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The program began on October 14, 1991 and was originally distributed by Public Radio International. Since 2005, the show has been distributed by NPR.
Gene Shay was an American radio personality. Shay was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a Jewish family and was a representative of the city's folk music scene. He produced weekly folk radio shows since 1962. A founder of the annual Philadelphia Folk Festival and its emcee since its inception, he has been called the "Dean of American folk DJs" by The Philadelphia Daily News and "The Grandfather of Philadelphia Folk Music" by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Shay also served as a host for the online "Folk Alley" stream originating at Kent State University station WKSU and carried on WXPN's website.
Franklin Music Hall is a concert venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is in a converted building once part of the General Electric Switchgear Plant and opened in 1995. It has a capacity between 2,500 and 3,000 people. It is owned and operated by The Bowery Presents.
Terri Ann Hendrix is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and independent artist who has been writing and performing an eclectic mix of Americana genre, encompassing folk, pop, country, blues, and jazz, since 1990. Since 1988 Hendrix has been based in and near San Marcos, Texas, living as of 2017 in nearby Martindale, after growing up in San Antonio, Texas.
Philadelphia Folksong Society (PFS) is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to preserving the past, promoting the present, and securing the future of folk music and related forms of expression through education, presentation and participation. It is perhaps best known for hosting the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the longest continuously running outdoor music festival in North America, and has been held every single year without pause since its 1962 inception.
Michael Tearson is an American pioneer underground DJ, concert and special appearance host, author, recording artist and actor. Inducted into the Hall of Fame, 2016, awarded by the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.
HogMaw is an American band from York, Pennsylvania, United States. The music of HogMaw has been described as a combination of bluegrass, folk, funk, and heavy metal called "thundergrass".
The Lawsuits is an American indie rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, led by songwriter Brian Dale Allen Strouse and vocalist Vanessa Winters
Porchfests are annual music events held across the United States and in Canada on front porches. Started in Ithaca, New York, in 2007, porchfest events bring local musicians and neighborhoods together to celebrate and create a sense of community.
Avi Wisnia is an American singer, pianist and songwriter based in Philadelphia. He began performing in New York City in 2005 and released his debut EP, Avi Wisnia Presents, in 2007. His two subsequent full-length albums, Something New (2010) and Catching Leaves (2021), received praise from New York, Philadelphia and national press. He has received numerous awards and nominations for his work including the 2009 OutMusic Award for outstanding jazz song of the year for his rendition of TLC's "No Scrubs."
Kenneth S. Goldstein was an American folklorist, educator and record producer and a "prime mover" in the American Folk Music Revival.
Lily Mae Oppenheim, known professionally as Lily Mae, is an American singer-songwriter from Philadelphia.
Levi Preston Landis is an arts administrator, musician, manager and festival producer. Since 2016, he has been the executive director of GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, the largest visual art center in the country.
KindieComm is one of the main conferences for American kindie musicians and was formed by Kathy O'Connell and Robert Drake of WXPN's Kids Corner radio show in 2013. Begun as an annual conference, but since moved to a biennial status, it is held in Philadelphia and serves to further the communal and collaborative aspect of the kindie music industry while advocating for independent children's music.
Ellen Stekert is an American academic, folklorist and musician. Stekert is a Professor Emerita of English at the University of Minnesota and a former president of the American Folklore Society.
Sisters 3 was an American indie folk group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 2005 by siblings Annachristie, Beatrice, and Cassandra Sadler. The group released two albums, Star Spangled (2008) and Coruscate at the Meadow Gate (2011), and found local notoriety, collaborating with artists including Hoots & Hellmouth, Sharon Little, and American Babies, and performing at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and venues including the Mann Center and Madison Square Garden. Annachristie Sadler would later find more notoriety as a solo artist under the name AC Sapphire.