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| The Opening Parade Arriving at Boardinghouse Park (2017) |
1. Free Music: Beatboxing, Georgian Polyphonic Singing, Traditional Penobscot Drumming, Cape Verdean Morna and All That
This year's festival lineup features Rahzel, one of the biggest names in beatboxing. This is your chance to hear a legend in hip hop culture for free. This is the guy who can sing a chorus and beatbox the backup simultaneously. You seriously do not want to miss this.
Iberi Choir is bringing the complexity and sheer beauty of Georgian polyphonic singing. The Georgian song tradition goes back to ancient pagan roots and weaves in early Orthodox Christian liturgical music and a rich mix of at least 15 different regional singing styles for an almost hypnotic experience.
Interested in the indigenous cultures of New England? The Burnurwurbskek Singers, a traditional drum group, are making their very first appearance at the Lowell Folk Festival. They're from the Penobscot Nation on Indian Island near Old Town, Maine and have been performing traditional Wabanaki songs for audiences across Maine for years. We are lucky to finally have them in Lowell.
Love Cape Verdean music? Neuza will be here singing not only the traditional mornas that Cesaria Evora was most famous for, but also songs in the local traditions of the island of Fogo. I'm especially looking forward to hearing her.
Those are only a few of the highlights among the amazing lineup of musicians on the Folk Festival stages. Still need more music? There will be music all over the place. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops and the streets all add to the musical landscape. Popular local Lowell acts such as Lowell's own Americana/Folk/Rock guys Whiskey Duo and singer songwriter Eddy Dyer will be doing their own mini-tours, playing several venues such unchARTed, Vinyl Destination, The Hearing Room , Dudley's, and the Olympia throughout the festival weekend.
2. Discover Some Traditional Foodways
Learn how to make 5 different kinds of flatbread! Yes, 5 different kinds of flatbread. This year's theme in the folklife/foodways area in Lucy Larcom Park is Flatbreads: Plain & Fancy. Try your hand at flipping some traditional Franco crepes, learn to make Penobscot frybread, Lithuanian pancakes, Greek hortopita, or Asian Indian flatbread, and hear family stories about these flatbread traditions. And you get to taste samples! You might just come home with a recipe or two.
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| Pickle Making Demo from the 2015 Lowell Folk Festival Foodways |
Need another food-related reason to come? Two words: Baklava Sundaes. The baklava sundaes from the Hellenic American Academy PTA are the most anticipated sweet treat of the entire folk festival. There are people who come to the festival just for the baklava sundaes. Have you really experienced the Lowell Folk Festival if you have not had a baklava sundae? You decide.
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| Baklava Sundae |
4. Food, Food, Food!
Take a culinary tour of the world without leaving downtown. You can experience Greek, Polish, Brazilian, Lao, Burmese, Liberian, and so many other wonderful ethnic food traditions all presented by local churches and nonprofits to raise money for their community programs as well as showing off their food culture. The longest lines are always for the lumpia, turon, and other Pilipino offerings from Iskwelahang Pilipino, who have been participating for over 25 years now. New this year is New Life Kingdom International Ministry, many of whose members hail from Sierra Leone. They'll be serving African BBQ as well as cassava leaves and Jollof rice. The pierogi from the Lowell Polish Cultural Committee are legendary, as are the gyros from Hellenic American Academy PTA. My personal favorite is the loobie & rooz from St. George Antiochian Church. You'll be sure to find old favorites and new tastes. Oh, and be sure to check out the Calla (Liberian donuts).
5. Art All Over the Place
Art in the Courtyard
Art in the Courtyard is another great part of the Lowell Folk Festival. The pleasantly shady brick courtyard between the National Historical Park Visitor Center and the Brush Art Gallery will be full of tents showcasing the work of a wide range of artists for sale. You'll find everything from flutes to felt, paintings to jewelry, and even handmade bath and body products. Local artists will also be displaying and selling their artwork at the neighboring Brush Art Gallery and Studios. What will you take home?
Folk Craft Area
The theme for this year’s folk craft area centers around four basic techniques underlying the work of traditional master artists: painting, plaiting, pounding, and pulling. Watch masters of traditional crafts turn birch bark into baskets, create icons to enhance spiritual practice, pound metal into drums, or turn yarn and burlap into a rug.
Galleries
Lowell is full of artists all year round, not just during folk festival. Several of the local galleries have shows up right now running through Sunday. Check out botanical paintings at the Arts League of Lowell gallery at Gates Block. Celebrate July at the Ayer Lofts Gallery. See what's up at Gallery Z. See what's up on the walls at the coffee shops. Just go around and absorb Lowell's art scene.
6. There's a lot to like about Lowell!
Folk Festival is the perfect time to enjoy all the things there are to like about Lowell. Besides strolling among the red brick mills and along the canals, you can check out several impressive works of public art, enhance your record collection with a shopping spree at three (count them three!) vinyl record stores, and savor delicious coffee at one of Lowell's amazing array of coffee shops.
7. Box Hockey
Did you know that the game of box hockey may well have been invented in Lowell? This playground (or street or driveway) game is usually played between two people with sticks, a puck and a compartmented box. Try your hand at box hockey in the Shattuck Street games area and get all nostalgic for your, or someone else's, childhood.
