Folk Festival shows off its wide appeal
Feel like some Chinese this weekend? Maybe a little Hawaiian? Some Middle Eastern?
The Spokane Folklore Society’s Fall Folk Festival is like a buffet of world music and dance, with more than 90 artists performing West African, East Indian, South American and Pacific Northwestern traditions, just to name a few compass points.
This 15th annual version will include the usual elements that draw 6,000 or more people every year:
• Eight stages, with numerous performances to choose from at all times.
• An eclectic lineup of styles ranging from the down-home (the Stevens County Stompers) to the far-away (the Silk Road Band, with folk music from Asia’s Silk Road).
• Music and dance workshops, for those who want to do more than listen.
• Kids’ activities and storytelling sessions.
• Food booths and craft booths, with an international flair.
• A New England-style contra dance on Saturday night.
• A live KPBX-FM (91.1, Spokane Public Radio) broadcast from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
• The best price in town: free.
That’s right, the Fall Folk Festival is one of Spokane’s premier free events, thanks to generous sponsors and hundreds of volunteers, including the performers.
By the way, if you’re a musical locavore, the Fall Folk Festival has plenty of choices, too. The best-represented musical categories are blues, bluegrass, old-time and Americana-style folk.