Lowell – The 2024 Lowell Folk Festival kicks off at 6:15pm on Friday July 26th with the traditional Parade of Flags carried by local citizens who hail from around the world. This year Jorge Arce Comparsa Boricua will lead the Parade through the streets of downtown Lowell, MA to the opening ceremony at Boarding House Park.
Over three days (July 26th – July 28th), the 37th edition of the Festival will present more than 20 world-class artists performing music and dance traditions that range from Korea to Louisiana, on stages throughout Lowell. More information, including a complete schedule of performances, activities, crafts, and food stands representing cuisines from around the world, is available at lowellfolkfestival.org.
“This year the Festival is excited to announce its new street performance location at the corner of Central and Merrimack Streets,” said Festival Director Lee Viliesis. “There will be an expanded schedule of performances that will bring new vitality to the furthest corners of downtown.”
Saturday’s street performers will be San Simón Caporales of New England, who perform traditional Bolivian dance, and StiggityStackz Worldwide, Boston’s acclaimed freestyle dance troupe.
On Sunday, the corner of Merrimack and Central Streets will be lit up with performances by New England’s own Yo-Yo Guy, a past winner of the International Yo-Yo Federation’s Grand Prix and holder of 4 Guinness World Records, who performs his high-energy comedy show; Veronica Robles, director and founder of the Veronica Robles Cultural Center in East Boston, and her Mariachi Band; and the Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago’s flying footwork, brilliantly colored dress, joyful song, dance and percussion.
In addition, the four festival stages; Boarding House Park, Market Street Stage, St. Anne’s Churchyard, and the Dance Pavilion, will feature performances by world-class musicians and dancers representing cultures from around the world, and around the corner.
The Lowell Folk Festival provides unique experiences to hear Festival artists from diverse cultural backgrounds explore the connections, similarities, and differences in their musical journeys. These moderated talk/demonstration sessions allow festivalgoers a more intimate interaction with the musicians.
On Saturday, the familial performers of Choro das 3, The Friel Sisters, and Eddie Pennington & Caleb Coots will take part in a session titled All in the Family. Soul-full Sounds of Devotion brings together Yoni Battat, High Fidelity, and Annie & The Caldwell Singers, to demonstrate how they weave sacred elements into their music..
On Sunday, the festival will hold Masters of Movement, a conversation about dance traditions with internationally renowned Kathak dancer Farah Yasmeen Shaikh, Native Pride Dancers and Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago. Joe Hall & the Cane Cutters, Afro Dominicano, Swanky Kitchen Band, and Cyril Neville will take part in a session titled Caribbean Crossroads: From the Bayou to the Barrio and Jesse Daniel, Lutchinha and Sugaray Rayford will talk and sing songs about love, loss, and trouble in a panel called Songs for Good Times and Hard Times.
“Annually, one of the highlights of the Lowell Folk Festival has been the dazzling array of food options for hungry folk-arts lovers of all ages,” said Viliesis. “The ‘I’m only here for the food’ t-shirts were a big hit last fall, everyone has a favorite food group they come back for every year.”
At Boarding House Park, the Dance Pavilion and Market Street, foods from around the world are prepared and served by local non-profits representing the diverse ethnic cultures to be found in New England. Cuisines representing Portuguese, Brazilian, Greek, Polish, Asian, Latin, African, Burmese and so many other communities, promises a rich and diverse culinary and cultural experience.
Festival goers also have the opportunity to experience visual and hand-craft arts at the Experience Lowell Arts Market. It will feature 50 area artists, craft makers, and organizations, enabling festival attendees to experience everything that Mill City’s arts and culture community has to offer.
The Lowell Folk Festival is produced and supported by the Lowell Festival Foundation, the City of Lowell, Lowell National Historical Park, the National Council for the Traditional Arts, the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, and the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau
New York-based sensations Afro Dominicano will play their vibrant dance music of the Dominican Republic Friday at 8:45pm at the Dance Pavilion; Saturday at 5:20pm at the Dance Pavilion and 9:15pm at Boarding House Park; and Sunday at 5:20pm on the Market Street Stage.
Annie & the Caldwell Singers will deliver the glorious quartet gospel singing of Annie Caldwell along with her husband and five of their children Saturday at 2:05pm at Boarding House Park and at 7:15pm at Market Street Stage; and Sunday at 12pm at Boarding House Park
Choro Das 3, a trio of Brazilian sisters, will play Saturday at 3:05pm at Boarding House Park; Sunday at 12pm on Market Street, and at 3pm at Saint Anne’s Churchyard.
Renowned percussionist and youngest of the Neville Brothers, Cyril Neville will perform his New Orleans style funk and R&B Saturday at 8:45pm at Dance Pavilion; and Sunday at 5:15pm at Boarding House Park.
Representing both the history of “Travis-style” thumb picking and its future will be Eddie Pennington and his grandson Caleb Coots, performing Saturday at 3:15pm at the Market Street Stage; Sunday at 1pm at Boarding House Park, and at 5pm at the Saint Anne’s Churchyard.
Celebrated for their stellar musicianship and their captivating interpretations of a precious family song tradition, The Friel Sisters will share traditional Irish music on Friday at 8:15pm at Boarding House Park; on Saturday at 3:15pm Saint Anne’s Churchyard; and Sunday at 2pm at Boarding House Park, and at 4:15pm at Market Street Stage.
Farah Yasmeen Shaikh will showcase her eloquent presentation of traditional Kathak dance and original choreography on Saturday at 12:15pm at the Market Street Stage, and 2:15pm in Saint Anne’s Churchyard; and Sunday at 3:15pm at Market Street Stage.
High Fidelity will spread their love of the timeless sounds of the great bluegrass of the 1950s and ’60s on Friday at 7:05pm at Boarding House Park; Saturday at 6:15pm at St. Anne’s Churchyard; Sunday at 12pm at St. Anne’s Churchyard, and at 3pm at Boarding House Park.
Singer-songwriter Jesse Daniel will showcase his honky-tonk and country music Friday at 7:15pm at the Dance Pavilion; Saturday at 3:50pm at the Dance Pavilion and at 8:05pm at Boarding House Park; and Sunday at 4pm at Boarding House Park.
Accordionist Joe Hall and the Cane Cutters, full of Creole, Cajun, and zydeco talents, will perform on Saturday at 4pm at Boarding House Park, and at 7:30pm at the Dance Pavilion; and Sunday at 12pm at the Dance Pavilion.
Master artists of the Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago will showcase flying footwork, brilliantly colored dresses, and joyful percussion of pungmul on Saturday at 1:15pm at St. Anne’s Churchyard and at 4:15pm on Market Street Stage; and on Sunday at 2:30pm at the street performance area at Merrimack and Central.
Lutchinha of Brockton, Massachusetts brings the soulful sounds of Cabo Verdean music, a blend of African and Portuguese influences, on Saturday at 1:15pm at the Dance Pavilion, and at 7pm at Boarding House Park; and Sunday at 2:35pm at the Dance Pavilion.
Native Pride Dancers present the colorful regalia, resounding drumming, and fancy footwork, part of the rich panoply of experiences at a Native American powwow, on Saturday at 12:15pm at Saint Anne’s Churchyard and at 2:15pm on the Market Street Stage; and Sunday at 4pm at St. Anne’s Churchyard.
The Grammy nominated Polka Family Band is a nationwide favorite, playing polkas, waltz, & obereks, on Saturday at 12pm at the Dance Pavilion, and 5:15pm on Market Street Stage; and Sunday at 1:15pm at the Dance Pavilion.
Two-time Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year Sugaray Rayford will perform Friday at 9:15pm at Boarding House Park; Saturday at 2:30pm at the Dance Pavilion and 5pm at Boarding House Park; and on Sunday at 5pm at the Dance Pavilion.
Swanky Kitchen Band revives the traditional music of the Cayman Islands Saturday at 12pm at Boarding House Park, at 6:15pm at the Market Street Stage; and on Sunday at 3:45pm at the Dance Pavilion.
The Yoni Battat Ensemble is revitalizing Arab music within the soundscape of American Jewish life, and will perform on Saturday at 1pm at Boarding House Park, and at 5:15pm at Saint Anne’s Churchyard; and Sunday at 2pm at St. Anne’s Churchyard.
