The Athens Folk Music and Dance Society will celebrate its 40th annual North Georgia Folk Festival on Saturday, Oct. 11 from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. at Sandy Creek Park. Every year the festival showcases musicians, artists and craftspeople from North Georgia and the surrounding area, but over time its representation of folk has widened.
When Tommy Jordan took over as director in 2008, the festival had not previously been formally organized, so he and his wife Mary Mayes decided to redesign it. Playing to their strengths, Jordan handled the music side while Mayes coordinated the art program. Along with the help of a strong committee, the festival has been transformed.
“We’ve tried lots of different things to promote it and support it and kind of make it interesting. But, you know, the big change was when we first got in there, and then we’ve refined it since then to be what you see today with the kids’ activities and music and the food trucks and all the artists,” says Jordan.
One of the most recent changes came last year when Mayes handed the art program over to Peter Loose, who has also created the colorful festival artwork the past several years since the death of Art Rosenbaum. Jordan explains that Rosenbaum provided the festival’s art from its very first event. His drawings of musicians and performers marked the style of the North Georgia Folk Festival for decades.
“I didn’t want to have an Art Rosenbaum copy, or something comparable. Somebody would say, ‘Well, that’s not Art Rosenbaum.’ So Peter stepped up and offered to do paintings. He was great because he’s nothing like Art, and his subjects are nothing like Art, too,” says Jordan. “He’s got a really good network of folk artists, potters, painters and sculptors around this region, and so he’s been able to leverage that [for the art program].”
Rosenbaum, as a fellow musician, also worked alongside Jordan in booking musicians for the festival. While Rosenbaum leaned into the older and more traditional acts, Jordan would balance out the lineup with his more modern interpretation of folk. Now Jordan works with Dick Daniels and Claire Campbell to research musicians in the area and curate a lineup that encompasses a wide range of genres nestled under folk, and even more importantly, multigenerational and multicultural representation. Together they continue to push the traditional boundaries and expectations of folk music.
“This year we’ve got bluegrass; we have Irish; we’ve got singer-songwriter; we’ve got old time; we’ve got Little Mae—they’re interesting, and it’s electric guitar and electric bass, you know, is that folk music? We’ve had Cosmic Charlie, and they’ve got drums. Pam Blanchard is playing, and she’s got a drummer with the kids program. So, you know, let’s break out of the mold,” says Jordan.
Dance is another aspect of the folk tradition, and Jordan explains that a lot of the music played, especially old time, is essentially dance music. The Athens Folk Music and Dance Society even holds a monthly contradance event at Memorial Park. So this year the performances include dance from Tonalli Danza Folklórica Mexicana, which also adds another cultural element to the folk umbrella. Demonstrating a variety of dance styles, the group has drawn a multigenerational membership to aid in preserving and passing down its heritage.
“This is an opportunity for people to experience something that they’re not necessarily going to have access to at some of the other festivals that we have in town, and it’s a different offering,” says Jordan.
“A lot of these folks are not going to go downtown for some of those, so our festival, it’s just this little subset of Athenians that will come out for this. It feels a little niche, those folks and young families with a blanket and a picnic and little kids running around. It’s just a family friendly event,” Mayes chimes in. “We’re 72 and our children are up in their 30s, but we would bring them to the North Georgia Folk Festival when they were so little they were laying on a blanket, you know?”
“I always think of this, when Mary was talking, I feel like every year I’m trying to put on a party for my 800 to 1,000 best friends. How can we make it the best possible day for everybody in terms of the music and the art and the demonstrators and there’s seven or eight food trucks, and it’s a wide variety,” says Jordan.
This year’s full performance lineup includes Pam Blanchard & Sunnyside Up, Tonalli Danza Folklórica Mexicana, Kids on the Mountain, Little Mae, Yes Ma’am with Caroline Aiken, Randy Steele and the High Cold Wind, Jim White, Pretty Little Goat, Borderhop Trio, Ralph Roddenberry, Julia Barfield and Fawney Rig. Musically inclined attendees are invited to bring their instruments and join in at the jam tent set up in the woods behind the festival.
For more info about all things North Georgia Folk Festival and associated events, visit athensfolk.org.
WHAT: North Georgia Folk Festival
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 11, 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
WHERE: Sandy Creek Park
HOW MUCH: FREE! (kids under 12), $8 (students), $15
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