Fox Valley Folk Festival Labor Day weekend

[Chicago Sandy]

It's that time of year again--the Fox Valley Folk Festival, Sun. 9/3 and Mon. 9/4 at Island Park (smack dab in the middle of the Fox River) in downtown Geneva, IL. Sugg. donation $10-15, but nobody'll be turned away. Now, the Roy Bookbinder blues master class for Sat. has been cancelled due to travel snafus, but Roy'll be playing Sun. & Mon. Also of interest to guitar fans: Paul Geremia & Phil Cooper; songwriters will get to enjoy legends like Michael Smith (who wrote "The Dutchman") and Bob Franke; dulcimaniacs can savor David Massengill; trad-Brit fans will go for John Roberts & Tony Barrand; all of Weavermania will be performing, as will Anne Hills, Barbara Barrow, Mark Dvorak, Small Potatoes, Cooper Nelson & Early; autoharp legend Bryan Bowers; and multi-instrumental powerhouses Leela & Ellie Grace, Lissa Schneckenburger and Fred Campeau.

As a special treat, there will be a rare main stage performance Mon. by the great Art Thieme (backed up by some friends). Multiple sclerosis has sidelined him, but it hasn't stilled his voice nor dulled his rapier storytelling wit. (He is the source of many of the most outrageous puns you'll hear on acoustic stages across the Midwest and beyond).

And oh, yeah, we'll be there too (as the SASS! Trio--we've drafted Kate Early to turn us into a harmony machine). We'll be in the Two Way Street Sampler to kick off the main stage on Sun., as well as the Two Way Street Favorites showcase later that day; along with David Massengill, we'll demonstrate dulcimer accompaniment (my dulcimer and our three voices); we'll get racy at the Songs of Love & Lust (f/k/a Bawdy Songs) workshops both days; and I will be emceeing the Chicago Songwriters' Collective showcase Mon. morning. We may also get to do some more assorted workshops for which we haven't been listed in the program but which still have an unfilled slot (see the instrumental Dulcimer Delights on Sun., New Songs That Sound Old and Songs To Make You Think on Mon.).

Wanna play? That can easily be arranged--there will be periodic open mics, a hosted but open unplugged singaround all day both days, and jams all over the place. Wondering what to do with the kids? The Kids' tent will have them singing, painting, puppetmaking, becoming spoons virtuosos, and all manner of crafts and music.

And there is a full-time dedicated Storytelling stage both days featuring some of the country's best storytellers, including ghost stories Sunday night. There will also be a pre-fest open mic and barn dance, with a live broadcast on WFMT's "Folkstage" of Roberts & Barrand (also a rare treat these days).

Only 3 blocks from the Metra train, and there's camping w/in 15 minutes away. Plenty of motels and some nice B&Bs, but those are filling fast.

Hope to see you there! And even if you don't catch our sets, that's understandable, considering the festival is a trove of entertainment riches!

[astrummer]

The website seems to showcase who you can hear. I think of this as perhaps in contrast to this being an event where you join in by participating in jam groups, song circles, and the telling of tall tales. Can someone who has attended add more on the participating side than what Sandy just posted? Sandy, can you expand on what you have already said?

[Chicago Sandy]

It's both a spectator and an interactive fest. The Fox Valley Folklore Society runs an open singaround (song circle) under its own tent, all day, both days. There are two open mics--Sunday at noon at Workshop Stage 2, and Monday at 4 at Workshop Stage 3. Interactive, hands-on workshops (as opposed to round robin performance sets): Cajun dancing Sun. at noon, shape note singing at 1, yodeling with Small Potatoes at 2:15, mt. dulcimer at 3, blues harmonica at 4. Monday--autoharp with Bryan Bowers Mon. at 1, hammered dulcimer at 2, percussion (spoons, etc.) at 3, bottleneck slide guitar at 4. There will be a 2-day puppetry workshop where the participants make puppets and marionettes.

From time to time, the storytelling stage will be thrown open to anyone with their own tall tales to tell.

But there is always jamming all over the place. Not in the adjacent parking lots--they're always busy with trams shuttling participants between the fest and their cars--but in every possible corner: under trees, in clearings, on park benches along the riverwalk, in merchants' tents, wherever there's a patch of ground not otherwise occupied by a tent or a stage.

Now, this may not fit the mold of the typical large regional folk festival like Philadelphia, Falcon Ridge, Kerrville or Winnipeg: it runs only two days; admission is by donation rather than by advance ticket sales because it is wholly volunteer-run for the benefit of the Fox Valley Folklore Society; and it is a commuter festival, since there is no on-site camping. Geneva is an outlying suburb of Chicago, and Island Park was picked not just because it is the center of the Society's home territory but also because it is easily reachable by tollways and commuter trains, as well as by bicycle. Therefore, you don't have campfires and tailgate parties--but there is everything musical that makes a folk festival a folk festival.

Oh, and I've attended (and performed and volunteered) every year since 2001.

[Forensicguy]

Sorry I can't make this one either! Wedding on Saturday to shoot and a previous commitment on this date...

I'm sure you'll do great!

See you at the Doyle Dykes event in Evanston though.

Russ