The American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront brings the world to Bangor.
Mark you calendars for the 2015 AFF – August 28-30.
The American Folk Festival is a large-scale, three-day event. Held each year at the end of August in downtown Bangor, Maine, the Festival presents the music and dance from the many cultures that make up America today.
Here’s what awaits you at the American Folk Festival:
- the nation’s finest performing groups sharing the traditional arts of their region, culture and heritage
- 4 stages of music and dance
- traditional craft demonstrations and exhibits
- a children’s area with activities for the whole family
- dozens of food vendors offering ethnic food, regional specialties and traditional festival favorites
- a Marketplace offering unique, handcrafted items and “Taste of Maine” treats for sale
Join us in New Bedford, America’s largest commercial fishing port, to learn about the men and women who harvest the North Atlantic.
Walk the decks of a scalloper, dine on fresh seafood, see fishermen’s contests, and watch a cooking demonstrations. Experience the workings of the industry which brings seafood from the ocean to your plate.
The Working Waterfront Festival presents performances of music, dance and poetry; demonstrations and contests of industry skills; tours of workboats; documentary films and footage at sea; cooking demonstrations; author readings; children’s activities; U.S. Coast Guard demos; Tug Boat Muster; whaleboat races, and more!
New Bedford Folk Festival brings together over 70 renowned and emerging performers and 90 plus juried arts and crafts vendors in New Bedford’s authentic historic district in July. In 2017, we celebrated the 22nd New Bedford Folk Festival on July 8 & 9. In 2018 the festival will be held on July 7 & 8.
The two day family-oriented festival offers continuous folk music from 11 AM to 9 PM on seven sound stages in and around the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park ranging from the majestic 1200 seat Zeiterion Performing Arts Theater to the intimacy of the National Park Garden Stage.
The Artisans’ Marketplace showcases the handcrafted work of many local artists as well as artisans from Maine to California and the International Bazaar offers high-quality, imported handcrafts, many of them Fair Trade, from around the globe.
Food is also a great part of the festival. From street carts, to the food court to the restaurants in and around the festival you can sample some of the tasty cuisine the area has to offer.
Presented by the Zeiterion Performing Arts Theater and hosted by the City of New Bedford, the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and the New Bedford Whaling Museum the New Bedford Folk Festival offers an exciting atmosphere with great music, beautiful arts and crafts and fun activities for the whole family.
The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center entertains, educates, and inspires our community by presenting a diverse array of high quality performing artists and providing engaging learning opportunities that contribute to the cultural, social, and economic vitality of the Southcoast. By presenting hundreds of world-class performing artists and hosting countless other community events, The Z is a gathering place that connects generations, unites diverse groups, and opens a world of possibilities to our children
Check out the performers here
It’s the best deal of the summer. Get your tickets here.
The 32nd Lowell Folk Festival continues to provide the finest in traditional music, craft, foodways and more in downtown Lowell. This annual celebration is the best in traditional folk music, artisan crafts and ethnic foods, and will be returning to downtown Lowell with a full lineup beginning with the traditional parade of nations from Lowell’s City Hall Plaza to Boarding House Park. The free festival offers something for everyone, from 8 to 80-year-olds all within the heart of Lowell National Historical Park.
“This will be the 32nd year of the Lowell Folk Festival,” said Kevin Dwyer, Executive Director of the Lowell Folk Festival. “There will be a number of great new artists to the lineup this year. For a lot of performers, it will be their first time in Lowell. It’s really exciting to bring new world class artists to Lowell and get our attendees to see them for the first time! This community has embraced a festival that has drawn millions of people over the last 30 years. We’re very excited to present the 32nd festival this July.”
To celebrate the Festival’s 32nd Anniversary the Foodways area will be featuring Flatbreads: Plain & Fancy. Check out cooks who have adapted their traditions and how they found their way to America, and to the Lowell Folk Festival! Make sure you stop by and have a “Taste of Tradition!”
The Lowell Folk Festival is presented by Lowell National Historical Park, Lowell Festival Foundation, the National Council for the Traditional Arts, the City of Lowell, the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce.
The perfect summer festival. More info here.
We are inviting volunteers, businesses, and organizations to donate their time and energy. Individual volunteers will continue to be the event’s backbone, and we are also recruiting teams of volunteers sponsored by businesses and organizations.
- Call the Lowell National Historical Park Volunteer Office at 978-275-1740, or
- Stop in at the Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center at 246 Market Street, Lowell (free parking at 304 Dutton Street) and fill out an application.
The New Bedford Folk Festival
New Bedford Folk Festival brings together over 70 renowned and emerging performers and 90 plus juried arts and crafts vendors in New Bedford’s authentic historic district in July. In 2018, we celebrated the 23rd New Bedford Folk Festival on July 7 & 8. In 2019 the festival will be held on July 6 & 7.
The two-day family-oriented festival offers continuous folk music from 11 AM to 9 PM on seven sound stages in and around the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park ranging from the majestic 1200 seat Zeiterion Performing Arts Theater to the intimacy of the National Park Garden Stage.
The Artisans’ Marketplace showcases the handcrafted work of many local artists, as well as artisans from Maine to California and the International Bazaar, offers high-quality, imported handcrafts, many of them Fair Trade, from around the globe.
Food is also a great part of the festival. From street carts to the food court to the restaurants in and around the festival you can sample some of the tasty cuisines the area has to offer.
Presented by the Zeiterion Performing Arts Theater and hosted by the City of New Bedford, the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and the New Bedford Whaling Museum the New Bedford Folk Festival offers an exciting atmosphere with great music, beautiful arts and crafts and fun activities for the whole family.
Check out the crafts and commercial vendors
New Bedford Folk Festival – Vendors
33rd Lowell Folk Festival
The Lowell Folk Festival continues to provide the finest in traditional music, craft, foodways and more in downtown Lowell. This annual celebration is the best in traditional folk music, artisan crafts and ethnic foods, and will be returning to downtown Lowell with a full lineup beginning with the traditional parade of nations from Lowell’s City Hall Plaza to Boarding House Park. The free festival offers something for people of all ages all within the heart of Lowell National Historical Park.
Danielle Miraglia, Jenee Halstead and Lisa Bastoni bring their amazing vocal and instrumental talents and will share our stage!
Danielle Miraglia comes armed with a strong steady thumb on an old Gibson, an infectious stomp-box rhythm and harmonica with tunes ranging from heart-felt to socially conscious that will move both your heart and hips. Her latest “All My Heroes Are Ghosts,” released with her band, Danielle M and The Glory Junkies, touches on a lot of what might be on your mind these days – from the loss of so many musical heroes to our collective anxieties on “All On Fire,” and more. The music itself blends influences of some of Miraglia’s own musical heroes – The Rolling Stones, Prince, Janis Joplin along with Danielle’s lyrical ability to explore human nature at its best and worst. Danielle M and The Glory Junkies are nominated for a 2018 Boston Music Award for “Blues Artist of the Year” and Danielle was nominated for a 2015 Boston Music Award for Singer-Songwriter of the Year.
“Straddling the line where folk/roots meets rock/blues, Miraglia has a voice that can go from a raspy come-hither purr to an Etta James-esque powerhouse belt, although she may be best known for her lead thumb — a heavy, thumping strike on her Gibson that’s backdrop percussion in itself.” – Lauren Daley, The Boston Globe
If you detect something expansive and mysterious in the music of Jenee Halstead, a freedom that owes no debt to place and time — or even genre — you understand where she’s coming from. And where she’s headed … deeper into the essence of song. Her evolution from folk singer to ethereal rocker mirrors her journey from the West Coast to the East. As a youngster in Spokane, Washington, Jenee followed the lead of hippie parents and explored music freely. She heard something in it all — from medieval choral works, to Led Zeppelin to Dolly Parton — and it tugged at her, even as she earned her degree at Gonzaga. To build on her personal, almost-secret songwriting, Jenee moved to Boston, where the seeds for many of her influences were planted. While Berklee College of Music was part of the allure, the academic approach turned her off, and away. “They make everybody use a laptop,” Jenee says, lamenting that mechanical method. “I thought, ‘Bob Dylan didn’t write “Blowin’ in the Wind” on a laptop! I don’t need this.’” Her latest release, “Edge of the World,” adds to the indefinable soundscape in which her soft and supple voice floats so exquisitely that the Boston Herald felt it “like sorceress music, rings of smoke through the trees and the bells of Rhymney,” while comparing Jenee’s working relationship with new producer Sean McLaughlin to that of Emmylou Harris and Daniel Lanois for the way it “embedded a tremendous voice in an otherworldly, shadowy soundscape.”
Lisa Bastoni is a Northampton, Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter. Following a 10-year break from music, her album “The Wishing Hour” (2017), recorded in the kids’ playroom in the wee hours of the night, debuted as #1 most-played on Boston’s WUMB and led to a number of songwriting awards and an active performance schedule. Lisa is a 2019 Kerrville New Folk Finalist. Her upcoming album “How We Want to Live” will be released in Sept. 2019. The album was produced by Sean Staples, and features guest performances by Mark Erelli, Rose Cousins, Lula Wiles and more.
“Americana of the highest order…along the lines of Gretchen Peters or Patty Griffin.” (Maverick-UK)
THE BARGAIN of the Summer!
The New Bedford Folk Festival offers an impressive line-up of the best in contemporary, Americana, traditional, blues and Celtic folk music with more than 75 performances on seven stages over two days. At the heart of the festival are the workshops, themed jam sessions with multiple artists, many playing together for the first time, for a unique, never-to-be-seen-again show.
For 29 years Paul Rishell & Annie Raines have been hailed as one of the world’s best blues duos. They have recorded 6 albums together including the W.C. Handy Award-winning Moving to the Country (2000), and received numerous award nominations from the Blues Foundation. They have performed and recorded with John Sebastian, Susan Tedeschi, Pinetop Perkins and Rory Block. They have opened for Ray Charles, Dr. John, and Little Feat, and performed on international radio and TV shows including Late Night with Conan O’Brien and A Prairie Home Companion. They continue to perform American roots music and their own compositions at festivals, concert halls, and clubs all over the world. As a working team, Paul and Annie have racked up hundreds of thousands of miles on the road in the U.S. and Europe, collaborated on original songs, and released the Blues Foundation Award nominated TALKING GUITAR , I WANT YOU TO KNOW (Tone-Cool/Artemis 1996), MOVING TO THE COUNTRY (2000), the W.C. Handy Award winner for Acoustic Blues Album of the Year, and GOIN’ HOME (2004), which was nominated for two Handy Awards.
Paul Rishell and Annie Raines’s sixth project together, TALKING GUITAR was released in 2012 and received 2 Nominations for the Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Awards. It features Paul returning to the bare essence of country blues, with stunning solo performances of gems by Lead Belly, Blind Boy Fuller, Skip James and others, with Annie joining in on a few tunes. It is stark, stripped down and intimate. Their previous album, the live recording “A NIGHT IN WOODSTOCK” was released in 2008 as a CD and in 2009 as a DVD on their own Mojo Rodeo label, and distributed internationally by Burnside Distribution, each release earning multiple Blues Music Award nominations. The live concert features special guests John Sebastian, Bruce Katz, and Paul and Annie’s own backing band joining the duo for an eclectic, high-energy set of acoustic and electric originals and classic blues songs. The DVD includes extra features such as artist biographies, video guitar lessons and audio commentary by Rishell, Raines and Sebastian.
Paul and Annie are equally passionate about their craft and devoted to the study and performance of a wide range of blues styles, from the syncopated acoustic guitar wizardry of Blind Lemon Jefferson and Son House to Chicagoan “Little” Walter Jacob’s swinging amplified harmonica. Paul has reached what Boston Phoenix writer Ted Drozdowski called “a place deep and resonant as Robert Johnson’s crossroads, where authenticity, soul, and a sense of purpose and commitment ring out in every note he sings and plays.” Annie has added vocals, mandolin, piano, and other instruments to her musical arsenal, while being recognized by top professionals and fans worldwide as the “queen of the blues harmonica.” Says blues legend Pinetop Perkins, “She plays so good it hurts!”
Touring internationally at festivals, clubs, and concert halls, and teaching workshops and seminars, Paul Rishell & Annie Raines have earned loyal fans around the globe. Paul and Annie are featured in the new jug band music documentary, Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost, which debuted at the San Francisco Film Festival in August 2007. They have performed on diverse radio and TV shows including A Prairie Home Companion, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and PBS’s Arthur. They have performed and recorded with Susan Tedeschi, John Sebastian, Pinetop Perkins, and Rory Block. Susan Tedeschi recorded an “unplugged” version of Paul’s Blues on a Holiday with Paul and Annie for her 2003 release, Wait For Me.
Annie Raines was born in 1969 in Boston and grew up in the suburb of Newton, Massachusetts. She picked up the blues harp at 17 and made her stage debut at the 1369 Jazz Club in Cambridge a few months before her high school graduation. Enthralled by the recordings of Muddy Waters, Little Walter Jacobs, Big Walter Horton and Sonny Boy Williamson, she became a fixture at Boston area blues jams. She briefly attended Antioch College and 1988 interned with Washington, DC homeless rights activist Mitch Snyder, who persuaded her to drop out of school to pursue her musical career. One of the few female blues harmonica players in the country, Annie played the New England club circuit with local bands, and traveled to Chicago where she met and played with many of her musical idols including Pinetop Perkins, Louis Myers, and James Cotton. She also enjoyed yearlong stints with the Tarbox Ramblers and the Susan Tedeschi Band, going on to perform on Susan’s first three albums. She lives in Boston with her number one musical hero, Paul Rishell.
Paul Rishell was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1950, descended from a long line of Methodist preachers and Norwegian painters. At the age of ten, he discovered that he could keep time on the drums, though his feet didn’t reach the pedals. He started a band a few years later, playing surf music and rock ‘n roll, until a friend turned him on to the country blues records of Son House, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. He immediately took up the guitar and in the early 70’s Paul moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and had the chance to play with many of the first and second generation of blues masters — including Son House, Johnny Shines, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and Howlin’ Wolf. Paul Rishell’s debut recording, BLUES ON A HOLIDAY (Tone-Cool) was released in 1990 to resounding critical acclaim. The album was half acoustic, half electric, and established Paul as a masterful, versatile blues player and as well as a deeply soulful singer and songwriter. He followed that with SWEAR TO TELL THE TRUTH in 1993, which featured heart-stopping solo performances as well as guest artists Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters and “Little”Annie Raines. Paul’s original music has been used in plays, films, and countless television shows including Friends, Oprah, and A&E’s Biography. He has built up a stellar reputation over 40 years as a performer, teacher, and torchbearer of the country blues tradition. His former students include Susan Tedeschi and Michael Tarbox. Dirt Road Blues, Paul’s instructional video/CD-Rom for Truefire.com, was released in 2008 with detailed demonstrations and transcriptions of his original songs and songs by Scrapper Blackwell, Blind Boy Fuller, and many others. He is currently serving as a visiting artist at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
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Danielle Miraglia comes armed with a strong steady thumb on an old Gibson and an infectious stomp-box rhythm with tunes ranging from heart-felt to socially conscious that will move both your heart and hips. Her latest “Bright Shining Stars” debuted at #15 on the Billboard Blues Charts. Cascade Blues Association calls it “… tough as rawhide, but smooth as blended whiskey.” Released Oct 2020 with Vizztone Label Group, it’s a solo acoustic folk/blues record that highlights the one-woman-band live sound she’s honed over the years, featuring guest appearances by talented friends Laurence Scudder, Peter Parcek and Richard “Rosy” Rosenblatt. It includes originals as well as a collection of songs she covers at live shows, paying homage to influences like Big Bill Broonzy, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and more, plus the title track “Bright Shining Stars,” written by her husband, Tom Bianchi.
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