Flagstaff Folk Festival - countdown

Next weekend: Flagstaff Folk Festival, sponsored by the Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music. This is an amazing event (click banner above to get to their site and blog - there's also an ongoing slideshow of past festivals). The cost is minimal: $3/person or $9/family (carload). From 10am-6pm (both days) there is non-stop music, plus many, many opportunities to jam. It's held at the Coconino Center for the Arts & Pioneer Museum (so there are other things to enjoy besides music!) at 2300 N. Fort Valley Rd in Flagstaff (free parking).

Also: lots of workshops on almost everything you can imagine (music-related). It's a very kid-friendly environment (a big plus as many festivals forget that we need to foster a love of music from the earliest ages). My granddaughters had a great time there 2 years ago (see photo collection at the bottom) and are looking forward to coming again this year (hopefully they'll attend Grandma's workshop on Kids Songs our Ancestors Sang - I'll have lots of singalongs including a 10-page handout with lyrics so no one has to try to remember the words to that long-forgotten song). Butch and I will also be doing a short concert as "Sawdust & Strings" - performing an eclectic selection of contemporary, original, and traditional pieces. And, of course, Butch will also be conducting a saw workshop (all these on Saturday - gonna be a busy day for us!).


So if you happen to be anywhere near Flagstaff, Arizona the last weekend of June, come to the festival, enjoy an Italian Ice or Navajo taco (or both!), and sing/play a few songs - sure to lift your spirits. There's nothing like raising voices in harmony - lets you forget all the bad stuff in the world and your personal life. See you there! (We're in the RV - pickup/camper - that has "Circlemending" in the top front window and 2 dogs peering out at the world from the cab.)

(Photos above from the Festival website - for promotional purposes only)

A small album from the 2008 festival:

Butch (in background, on saw) accompanying the Beaded Lizard Band

Butch teaching a spoons workshop - those are 3 of our granddaughters - Two to his left (Anya and Miracle) and one to his right, leaning on her dad (Mikayla). Honest, they really did have a good time!


Butch and I - Sawdust & Strings - doing a short concert of Civil War songs.