Kayam Farm Holds 2nd Annual Music Festival Sunday

As the summer festival season winds down, it delights me to see local bands playing homegrown festivals right in my backyard.

This Sunday, the folks at Kayam Farm will be holding their 2^nd Annual Tu B’Av Love & Music Festival, which features five bands and a variety of family-friendly festival activities.

The lineup features Baltimore bluegrass pickers , eclectic acoustic singer/songwriter Chana Rothman, Israeli- and Jewish-themed band The Shuk, The Kayam Farm Family Band and Baltimore groove-rockers The 14^th Circuit.

As someone who throws twice a year, I was curious to learn about the ins and outs of this Reisterstown farm’s festival. So, I spoke with organizer and San Francisco-based rabbinical student Jessy Gross to learn more.

Gross, who has a lot of ties to the east coast and Baltimore, threw her first concert in New Orleans in 2006 to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. With that in mind, Gross and Kayam Farm Director Jakir Menela decided to have an event on the farm last year.

“We really thought that nobody was gonna show because I think there were tornado warnings, it was a miserable day,” Gross said, but hundreds still showed up. “It was about three or four hours of music and very little bells and whistles.”

This year, the five hours of music from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. is accompanied by several bells and whistles, including crafts, games, food, a family play area, farm activities and tours, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament and a ‘make your own festival shirt’ activity.

“It’s a huge production,” Gross said. “Hopefully all the work and all the effort we put into that, and weather permitting, will bring 400-500 people out.”

What: Kayam Farm’s 2^nd Annial Tu B’Av Love & Music Festival
Where: Kayam Farm, 5425 Mt. Gilead Road, Reisterstown, MD
When: Sunday, August 14, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Cost: $10 adult, $5 kids 5-12, kids under 5 are free, $30 max for one family
More info: 410.429.4400 x235 or kayamfarm.org
Feel free to bring a picnic.