Philadelphia Folk Festival will return in August
The fest didn't happen in 2023 due to a financial crisis. It plans to come back to the Old Pool Farm this summer for its 61st year.
It’s official: The Philadelphia Folk Festival plans on returning to the Old Pool Farm this August.
Tickets for the 61st Folk Fest, scheduled for Aug. 16-18 at its longtime site in Upper Salford Township near Schwenksville in Montgomery County, have been on sale since late last month.
No performers have been announced yet. But for loyal Folk Fest fans, all-weekend tickets are available at discounted rates through Jan. 15, ranging from $5 for children 5 to 11 to $199 for adults.
Last year, the Folk Fest, founded in 1962 and billed as the longest continuously running outdoor music festival in the country, was not staged in any form for the first time since its inception. It has featured headliners including John Prine, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Odetta, Fairport Convention, Mississippi John Hurt, Margo Price, and Jeff Tweedy..
In 2020 and 2021, the PFF was a virtual-only event. It returned as an in-person festival in 2022. Gene Shay, the Philly folk DJ who cofounded the fest and was its longtime host, died in 2020.
Last year’s cancellation was announced in February 2023, due to what Folksong Society president Miles Thompson told members were “dire financial straits” with the organization close to bankruptcy.
Justin Nordell, the festival’s executive director, departed by “mutual agreement,” and Kimberly Sinclair, then vice president of the PFS’ board of directors, told The Inquirer in 2023 that the festival would be “pausing this year while we rebuild.”
Last month, the PFS announced a new management team, with Andrew and Michael Braunfeld of Blind Justice Music taking over as festival directors and Sinclair in charge of booking talent as festival artistic director.
The Braunfelds are guitar and banjo collectors and former producers of the Spring Gulch Folk Festival in New Holland, Pa., as well as partners in the Conshohocken law firm Masterson Braunfeld.
Andrew Braunfeld has been cochair of the PFF for over 50 years, and Michael Braunfeld is a singer-songwriter who has been a consultant to the festival. Sinclair has been the PFF’s publicist since 2019 and a member of the festival’s board since 2021.