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| Rahzel Beat Boxing at Kennedy Plaza Stage 2018 Lowell Folk Festival |
1. Free Music!
As always, the festival lineup encompasses an amazing variety of traditional music from around the world.Guitarist Vieux Farka Touré (yes, he's the son of the famous Ali Farka Touré) is bringing the Saharan blues from Mali. He works in some elements of Latin music and rock with the traditional music of Mali to create a new tradition deeply rooted in the old tradition. I'm excited to get to hear him.
Does Irish trad music speak to your soul? Open the Door for Three, from Portland, Maine, bring a new energy and fresh approach to the traditional repertoire. Whether they're playing the really old stuff going back centuries or their own new compositions, their music carries forward the tradition.
You never know when you'll discover a musical tradition you never knew about before. From Canary Islands timple to Siberian khomus, there is something for every music lover.
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| Georgian Bagpipe at 2018 Lowell Folk Festival |
2. Huge Variety of Ethnic Food
One of the best Folk Festival traditions is the amazing array of food booths presented by local churches and nonprofits to raise money for their community programs and showcase their food cultures. You can experience Greek, Polish, Brazilian, Lao, Burmese, Liberian, Kenyan, Middle Eastern and loads of other culinary traditions of the world without leaving downtown.Some vendors have been participating for many years and have developed a following. The longest lines are always for the lumpia, turon, and other Pilipino offerings from Iskwelahang Pilipino who have been coming for over 25 years. The line for pierogi from the Lowell Polish Cultural Committee is the stuff of legend and I can vouch for the fact that they are worth lining up for. The gyros from the Hellenic American Academy PTA have a dedicated following as well.
Some of the more recent additions to food line up are getting lots of attention too. Be sure to check out the African BBQ, cassava leaves and Jollof rice, and especially the Calla (Liberian donuts). Another emerging crowd favorite is the Burmese food from the Saydanar Community Development Center. The myin khwar ywet kyaw and other Burmese pennywort dishes made a big impression on me last year.
My personal favorite is still the loobie & rooz from St. George Antiochian Church, but I make sure to try something new every year. You'll be sure to find old favorites and new tastes.
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| Iskwelahang Pilipino at 2015 Folk Festival |
3. Baklava Sundaes
There are people who come to Lowell just to enjoy the baklava sundaes from the Hellenic American Academy PTA. Yup, these delicious treats are reason enough to come to Lowell this weekend.
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| My Favorite Baklava Sundae Photo |
4. There's More to Folk than Music
So, when you think folk, do you only think music? Ah, but there's so much more to cultural traditions! Think foodways and folk crafts and art, oh my! The festival's folklife area in Lucy Larcom Park showcases food and craft traditions centered on this year's theme Fish and Fowl.Foodways
Food preparation, family stories about traditional foods, and the role that fish and fowl play in native and immigrant traditions are the perfect complement to musical traditions. Want to learn how to make fish curry or chicken soup? The Foodways demos have got you covered. |
| Pickle Making Demo at 2015 Folk Festival |
Folk Crafts
This year’s folk craft area centers around the fish and fowl theme also, with the focus on birds and fish as subject matter for carving and painting in addition to their role as source of food and sport.You can watch a demo and even try your hand at weaving a traditional Wampanoag fish weir as you learn about the importance of shad, alewife, cod, whitefish, salmon, and sturgeon in New England. Find out how to make a fly rod from bamboo, tie a fly, carve a decoy, make a needle-felted piping plover (my favorite bird), or even build a ship in a bottle. Birds and fish as a theme encompass all sorts of aspects of folk craft. |
| Quilting Traditions at 2015 Folk Festival |
5. Streets Alive with Pop-up Shops, Art in the Courtyard, Destination Lowell and More
Art is everywhere in Lowell all the time, but especially during Folk Festival. Art in the Courtyard showcases local artists at tents in the courtyard between the National Historical Park Visitor Center and the Brush Art Gallery. Artists will also be selling and displaying their work in the Brush Art Gallery and Studios.New this year, the ever quirky-fun-charming Mill No. 5 is doing a pop-up shop in the Welles Emporium building on Merrimack St. Several of the Mill No. 5 shops including Red Antler Apothecary, One Urban Tribe, Over the Spoon, The Tone Loft, and Serpentine Books will be selling stuff there. If you've never been to Mill No. 5, this is a great chance to check out some of vendors. I'm told that Coffee and Cotton will be serving iced coffee and treats too!
A walk along Merrimack Street will show you a whole lot of what makes Lowell exciting with a showcase of cultural and and sports organizations presented as Destination Lowell. The street fills up with reasons to come to Lowell. From Lowell Celebrates Kerouac to the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, you're sure to find a reason to come back again.
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| The Famous Lobster Roll Repping the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race at the 2018 Folk Festival |
