This 2021 Takoma Park Folk Festival on Sunday, September 12 streamed live music while crafters enjoyed an afternoon outdoor showcase. The Festival is a long-standing fall tradition that stretches back more than four decades. Here are Five Things to Know about the Festival.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE TAKOMA PARK FOLK FESTIVAL
One. The first Takoma Park Folk Festival was held on September 10, 1978. That summer Sammie Abbott sought out local musicians who enjoyed playing for the fun of it. He proposed they organize a concert to help the struggling community-run Takoma Theatre. They jumped at the chance. Six weeks later, the first Festival kicked off and raised $1000 for the theatre. Everyone agreed to do it again.
Two. Finding the right venue was easy. Lee Jordan suggested using the field at Takoma Park (then) Junior High where he was custodian. The school has served as the Festival venue ever since, except for 1999 through 2001. Those three years it moved to Piney Branch Elementary until Takoma Park Middle School was rebuilt. Before that, in 1982, the Festival helped fund the battle to rescue the school itself from a county-mandated closure.
Three. The music and camaraderie were always intertwined with raising money. Musicians and staff volunteer their time so admission is free. A wide range of sponsors and supporters offset costs. The crowd is encouraged to buy a shirt or donate money. Vendors pay a site rental to offer a tempting array of international food. The second year of the Festival, Lee Jordan’s Boys and Girls Club received part of the proceeds. Every year since, the profits are divvied up among a dozen or so mostly youth-oriented groups, fulfilling the Festival’s founding principle.
Four. Make music and people will come. One stage soon became seven. What counts as “folk music” has expanded to encompass all genres, eras and continents. Pete Seeger and Root Boy Slim both played the Field Stage. Families gather at the Grassy Nook. The Dance stage invites all to join in. Enjoy a favorite musician or discover a new talent. Add community tables and a premier craft show, and everyone has a reason to come spend the day.
Festival Map showing Lenore Robinson Stage
Five.Engaging new volunteers is vital. Forty years is a long time to sustain an event, especially one this complicated. The first changing of the guard came in 1989, with a second wave in the mid-1990s. The sudden death of key organizer Lenore Robinson in 2004 threatened to end the tradition. Dedicated volunteers rallied and the show went on. The Festival recently recovered from its 2016 hiatus only to be disrupted by Covid. Going forward its legacy rests in the hands of willing volunteers.
