New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center presents the 22nd Annual New Bedford Folk Festival on Saturday, July 8, and Sunday, July 9. The impressive line-up of the best in contemporary, Americana, traditional, blues and Celtic folk music includes heavy-hitters Aoife O’Donovan, Bill Harley, Patty Larkin, Catie Curtis and Joshua Davis from NBC’s The Voice. The festival runs from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. both days in the Zeiterion and throughout 11 blocks of historic downtown New Bedford. Prior to June 23, tickets are $125 for a weekend VIP pass (limited quantity), $30 for a weekend pass and $22.50 for a single day pass. After June 24, prices are $140 for weekend VIP pass, $40 for a weekend pass and $30 for a single day pass. Children under 12 are free. Tickets are available by calling 508-994-2900, online at www.newbedfordfolkfestival.org, or at the Zeiterion Box Office at 684 Purchase Street in New Bedford.
The New Bedford Folk Festival has grown to present 83 shows on nine stages in and around the streets that comprise the Whaling National Historical Park, all in a new footprint that has expanded and shifted towards upper downtown and the Zeiterion. This year, over 100 performers are presented in concerts and in the popular festival “workshops” – a musical program unique to the New Bedford Folk Festival. Twenty-five Workshops combine several different artists together with a theme like “French Canadian Kitchen Party” among others, for a collaborative, unique, one-time-only performance.
Venues include seven tented stages, the 285-seat Whaling Museum Theater, the 1200-seat Zeiterion and the intimate “Meet the Performer” area, now located inside Greasy Luck Brewery on Purchase Street. Stages that are free and open to the public include SouthCoast showcasing local artists, New Talent with open mic sign-up, and Family Tent with family-friendly programming like the popular Birds of Prey show.
The 2017 New Bedford Folk performers are: Anna and Elizabeth, Benoit Bourque and Antoine Pigeon-Bourque, Kevin Burke, Copley Street, J.P. Cormier, Catie Curtis, Jeff Davis, Joshua Davis, Yann Falquet and Pascal Gemme, David Francey, Vance Gilbert, Sam Gleaves and Tyler Hughes, Seth Glier, Jefferson Hamer, Ry Cavanaugh and Laura Cortese of Session Americana, Bill Harley, Winifred Horan, Joe Jencks, The Jeremiahs, David Jones, Pete and Maura Kennedy, Jim Kweskin, Patty Larkin, Peter Mulvey, New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus, The Nields, Aoife O’Donovan, Chris Pahud, Steven Pelland, Pete’s Posse, Dan Plews, Harvey Reid and Joyce Anderson, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Sally Rogers and Howie Bursen, Art Tebbetts, Hiroya Tsukamoto, and Susan Werner. All performers are subject to change.
The expanded Food Court and Beer Garden on Purchase Street in front of The Zeiterion, is open to the public. Festival ticket holders and the public are invited to sit, dine and drink from a variety of food vendors and a full bar, all while listening to the performers on the nearby SouthCoast Stage. Food vendors include Acushnet Creamery, All Purpose Bakery, Cobb’s Southern BBQ, Dorothy Cox’s Candies serving Del’s Lemonade, Fancheezical, The Noodle Bowl, Shuckin’ Truck, Timi’s Greek and Middle Eastern Food, Wicked Good Kettle Corn, and Wursthaus III. Patrons can walk through the festival with purchased alcoholic beverages on Purchase Street, between Union and School Streets.
More than 80 juried artisans and crafts makers line the cobblestone streets between the performance tents and venues. They include jewelers, instrument makers, tie dye and caricature artists, local honey purveyors, handmade health and beauty products, pottery and more, representing a rich culture of handmade wares from the Southcoast region and beyond.
The New Bedford Folk Festival has been recognized as a “Critic’s Pick” and one of “New England’s Greatest Celebrations” by the Boston Globe. Yankee Magazine has selected the festival as an “Editor’s Choice.” Thousands of people from New England and across the nation attend the festival over the weekend, making it a major destination for this summer weekend. This year’s festival promises an exciting and memorable celebration which showcases the city of New Bedford at its best.
New Bedford Folk Festival Community Partners include The City of New Bedford, the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The New Bedford Folk Festival is supported in part by a grant from the Cultural Council of New Bedford, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide New Bedford and the region with performing arts programming of excellence that inspires, educates, engages and entertains. Tickets are available at www.newbedfordfolkfestival.com, 508-994-2900, or in person at the Zeiterion Box Office at 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, MA. Box Office Hours: Monday-Wednesday and Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
