What Can You Do at the Folk Festival?
The goal of the Festival is to encourage you to participate in the joy of playing music, singing, and dancing. Many of our activities are hands-on, and we hope you'll join in. Here are some of the things you can do:
Learn something new!
One of the things that makes the Albuquerque Folk Festival so unusual is the incredible variety of workshops available. Musicians and dancers delight in sharing their love for what they do with you!
- If you play an instrument, or would like to get started with one, we have dozens of workshops from bodhrán to Klezmer music with an emphasis on getting beginners started (and yes, we have more common instruments like guitar, banjo, harmonica, sometimes even kazoo!).
- Prefer to move your feet to the music? You can learn about square dancing, contra dancing, swing, salsa, Irish step and Scottish country dance, Argentine tango, Hawaiian, and international folk dance throughout the day.
Sing!
There are singing workshops all day Saturday, and you can always sing along at the various jam sessions. Plus, returning after a great debut last year is our 6 pm Singalong at the Villa Hispana Stage. This year, we're featuring songs by Woody Guthrie, the Weavers, and Lead Belly. We'll provide the lyrics, you provide the voices!
Jam!
We have three formal (well, as formal as jamming gets) venues for jamming at the festival. At the two hosted jam tents, a different host every hour will keep things moving, encourage everyone's participation, and perhaps influence tune selection. At the Jam with the Band venue, you can play along with your favorite local bands.
But nobody says jamming has to be confined to the jamming tents! There always seem to be informal groups playing around the grounds.
Remember: it's easy to bring an instrument to the festival! We provide a free instrument checkroom Friday evening and all day Saturday so you can store your instrument safely.
Dance!
You already know about the wide variety of dance workshops. But there's more dancing throughout the Festival.
Friday night, you can come out for a African/Latin/Roots dance with music by Wagogo. On Friday night, you'll also be able to explore Irish dancing, with a step dance performance at 8:45 and dancing music provided by Chris Carilli and Gary Papenhagen.
Saturday night, join Michael Hearne and South by Southwest for the Barn Dance Under the Stars and FolkMADS for a contra dance with music by the amazing Albuquerque Megaband and calling by Erik Erhardt from Albuquerque.
And be sure to check out the classic and Bhangra Indian dance and the Thai dancing at the Demo Stage.
Explore!
Of course, you can spend the whole day exploring different kinds of music and dance at the Festival, but this year, you'll also be able to explore different traditional folk musical instruments at Todd's Musical Petting Zoo The zoo has been one of our most popular attractions for the past two years, and you won't want to miss it!
Perform!
This year, we're introducing the Sign-Up Stage, a centrally-located venue where any performer (musical bands, individuals, dancers, singers, etc.) can sign up on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more info: Sign-Up Stage.
Compete!
The talent contest is on hiatus this year, but the Band Scramble remains. So have some fun, get a chance to play on the Villa Hispana Stage, and maybe win a ribbon: sign up for the fifth annual Band Scramble, where you'll be assigned to a random motley group of people and have less than an hour to come up with a band name and a couple of tunes, before performing those tunes on the Villa Hispana Stage.
Bring the kids!
Along with a special venue just for children, kids are welcome throughout the festival. The Musical Petting Zoo, where kids of all ages can try out different instruments, is back. This year, we're adding a Youth Talent Showcase, where kids and their friends can play and sing for an audience. The crafts area features hands-on crafting, where kids can make something to take home.
Kids 18 and under can come to the festival for free! The Folk Festival is an inexpensive day-long activity for the whole family.
Enjoy the music!
Our Villa Hispana Stage features a great mix of performers this year and will be rocking both Friday and Saturday nights, as well as all day Saturday. Last year's Pete Seeger singalong was so popular that we're doing another one this year, featuring the songs of Woody Guthrie, the Weavers, and Lead Belly. You won't want to miss this chance to sing old favorites!
The Mainstreet Stage will showcase some of our best local bands, and the Singer/Songwriter stage also features local talent. The Demo Stage always has an eclectic and enjoyable program. We don't know what to expect at the Sign-Up Stage, where you can hear a new performer every 45 minutes, but we do know that it will be fun! And you can listen as folks jam with local bands at the Jam with the Band tent.
Listen to stories
Some of the best regional storytellers will entertain you on Friday night and all day on Saturday.
Get crafty!
Over the past several years, our craft area has expanded in size and popularity. You can join crafters and listen to the music as you work on a project. There's always something for the kids to do here, as local crafters provide hands-on projects.
Shop!
You can find musical instruments, toiletries, rocks, glass, jewelry, candles...all kinds of delightful things! So allow a little time (and money) for checking out the vendors' wares.
Help us out!
If you want to get even more actively involved in the Festival, we can always use volunteers. If you'd like to get involved and work for a few hours at the Festival, see our Volunteers page for more information.
To sum it all up, here's what's in the works for 2011:
- A full Friday night program
- Performances by great national and regional bands on the Villa Hispana Stage
- Mainstreet Stage to showcase local talent
- Demo Stage with a very diverse program for the day
- Singer/Songwriter Showcase.
- Sign-up Stage.
- Two dances on both Friday and Saturday night
- Music Workshops
- Dance Workshops
- Singing Workshops
- Musical Petting Zoo
- Band Scramble
- Youth Talent Showcase
- Storytelling
- Craft Workshops and Demonstrations
- Vendors
- Hosted Jams and Jam with the Band