WHATEVER THE WEATHER
Multiple generations enjoy annual event, even if conditions call for rain
The threat of rain does not stop the Philadelphia Folk Festival.
Philadelphia Folksong Society board member Joyce Moore personally greeted a handful of festers Friday morning aboard one of the shuttle busses that loop from the Old Pool Farm to the Wolford Road parking lot (which is an open field outside of Folk Fest time). After she asked the two first-time attendees on the bus if they had any questions, she said: “I hope that you brought a rain coat.”
The weather forecast was calling for thunderstorms, although as of 3:30 p.m. the rain had held off.
Moore said that the best Folk Fest concert she ever saw — with David Bromberg and the later Levon Helm — was held under stormy conditions. “Unless the
“We talk about that all the time, but the reality is this is our home. We’ve been here five decades. We’re residents of Upper Salford Township, even if only a short time. You have to experience this culture to really appreciate it. It’s impossible to give it language. I have four generations of ticket buyers and volunteers that come here.” — Lisa Schwartz, Folk Festival chairwoman
stage is unsafe, we don’t stop the concert ... that rarely happens,” she said.
The Philadelphia Folksong Society, which has been presenting the Folk Fest each year for 56 years, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
Lehighton resident Greg McCullian has attended the festival 40 years and said he was looking forward to seeing TajMo — a combination of backing band members for Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, and Graham Nash. Five years ago he found himself stuck in his car overnight because the parking lot was “under water” from heavy rain. “These folks are all Spartan, and they’re set up really well,” he said of the seasoned Folk Fest campers.
In an interview at the festival’s main gate, Folk Fest chairwoman Lisa Schwartz estimated that an average of 10,000 to 12,000 people attend each day, or 30,000 to 35,000 total over the course of the entire weekend. Crowds get larger during certain anniversary years, such as the 50th annual Folk Fest, which Schwartz said drew close to 50,000.
That said, is there a chance the festival will outgrow its space on an 80acre working farm and have to move elsewhere? For the foreseeable future, the answer is no.
“We talk about that all the time, but the reality is this is our home. We’ve been here five decades. We’re residents of Upper Salford Township, even if only a short time,” Schwartz said. “You have to experience this culture to really appreciate it. It’s impossible to give it language. I have four generations of ticket buyers and volunteers that come here.”
The Fisher family from Rochester, N.Y. is one example. Rebecca Fisher, who grew up in Berks County and was introduced to Folk Fest by her parents, volunteers with her daughter, Savannah, to help keep their fellow festival volunteers fed.
That tradition goes all the way back to Fisher’s mother and father, Bob and Sallie Fisher. The couple met in January 1969, camped at the Atlantic City Rock Festival, attended the historic Woodstock festival and then went to that year’s Folk Fest. “People say the summer of love was 1967. For us, it was ’69,” Sallie Fisher said.
“I just turned 44, so it’s my 45th festival,” Rebecca Fisher said.
The Montgomery County Health Department tweeted from @MontcoHealth earlier in the week they would be distributing free condoms at the festival in the name of preventing sexually transmitted diseases. Peter Block, who goes by “Garth” during the Folk Fest, confirmed that the health department made their way through the campgrounds Thursday. “I’m OK with that,” said Block, who two years ago officiated a Folk Fest wedding in Dulcimer Grove as a minister of the Universal Life Church.
Friday’s main stage lineup featured David Jacobs-Strain with Bob Beach, Man About a Horse, The End of America, Hezekiah Jones and Ben Arnold & The 48 Hour Orchestra. The evening concert was scheduled to have David Amram, The Infamous Stringdusters, Samantha Fish and Old Crow Medicine Show.
Saturday’s evening concert begins at 4 p.m. and is supposed to have Wesley Stace, Runa, John McCutcheon, Cry Cry Cry, Sierra Hull, Larry Campbell & Theresa Williams, Ranky Tanky, Graham Nash and The Weight Band with the King Harvest Horns.
But that’s not all. Check www.folkfest.org or get the Philadelphia Folksong Society app.
Festival-goers are encouraged to use the hashtag #pff2017 when sharing your photos and videos.