Slaid Cleaves Headlines This Year's Huntington Folk Festival

Music lovers who enjoy free entertainment, rejoice.

Members of the community can enjoy a day solely dedicated to Folk music at the eleventh annual Huntington Folk Festival on Saturday, July 30.

The free festival kicks off at noon and will continue until about 10:30 p.m. at Heckscher Park.

Acclaimed Maine-bred and Texas-based singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves headlines this year’s festival while Huntington’s own Kirsten Maxwell will be opening for Cleaves. The young singer-songwriter has received many accolades over the past year.

From the bio on Cleaves' website

Slaid Cleaves spins stories with a novelist’s eye and a poet’s heart. Twenty years into his career, the celebrated songwriter’s Still Fighting the War spotlights an artist in peak form. Cleaves’ seamless new collection delivers vivid snapshots as wildly cinematic as they are carefully chiseled. Dress William Faulkner with faded jeans and a worn six-string for a good idea. “Slaid’s a craftsman,” says Terri Hendrix, who sings harmony on “Texas Love Song.” “He goes about his songs like a woodworker.”

Maxwell hits the Rainbow Stage at 8:30 p.m.

Festivalgoers can bring lawn chairs, blankets and food to enjoy a picnic on festival grounds. They can also walk into Huntington Village for a meal.

AcousticMusicScene.com and Folk Music Society of Huntington will host unplugged showcases and song swaps on the lawn featuring artists from half a dozen states leading up to Cleaves’ performance. An open mic is also set for noon.

Check out the full schedule:

AcousticMusicScene.com Tent

• (Hosted by Michael Kornfeld)
• 12 p.m.— LI Artists Spotlight: Ray Lambiase, Richard Lanahan, Hank Stone
• 12:30 p.m.— Aly Tadros, Jesse Tomsko
• 1 p.m.— Fiddlin’ Around: Jeremy Aaron, Eric Lee
• 1:30 p.m.— Terry Kitchen, Mara Levine, Dennis McDonough
• 2 p.m.— Mass. Appeal: Dan & Faith, Steven Pelland
• 2:30 p.m.— Kerrville New Folk Winners: Addie Brownlee, Josh Joffen
• 3 p.m.— Hudson Valley Songsters: Susan Kane, Judy Kass
• 3:30 p.m.— Colleen Kattau, James O’Malley
• 4 p.m.— Blair Bodine, Letitia Van Sant
• 4:30 p.m.— Funny Folk: Lois Morton, Carla Ulbrich
• 5 p.m.— Carlson & Benefit Street
• 5:15 p.m.— Roots Round: Greg Cornell and the Cornell Brothers, He-Bird, She-Bird, Pluck & Rail

Folk Music Society of Huntington Tent

• (Hosted by Lee Ann Rush and Gary Schoenberger)
• 12 p.m.— Open Mic
• 1 p.m.— Acoustic Apple
• 1:15 p.m.— Bryan Gallo
• 1:30 p.m.— Carla Ulbrich
• 1:45 p.m.— Richard Lanahan
• 2 p.m.— Friends On The Journey (Lora Kendall, Suzanne Ernst & Vincent Crici)
• 2:15 p.m.— Letitita VanSant
• 2:30 p.m.— Dennis McDonough
• 2:45 p.m.— He-Bird, She-Bird
• 3 p.m.— Hank Stone
• 3:15 p.m.— Mara Levine & Terry Kitchen
• 3:30 p.m.— Rob Carlson & Benefit Street
• 3:45 p.m.— Steven Pelland
• 4 p.m.— Rorie Kelly
• 4:15 p.m.— Greg Cornell & the Cornell Brothers
• 4:30 p.m.— James O’Malley
• 5 p.m.— My Dad’s Truck

Updated daytime schedules will be posted online at AcousticMusicScene.com, FMSH.org and HuntingtonArts.org.

The festival, which is co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington (fmsh.org) and the Huntington Arts Council (huntingtonarts.org), is part of the 51st Annual Huntington Summer Arts Festival.

Courtesy photo