File photos.
While the Third annual Long Beach Folk Revival Festival announced their full lineup not too long ago, organizers would also like to invite families and folk fans of all ages to enjoy an entire day of pure American musical goodness with banjos, crafts, beards, beers and more folk than you’d ever thought imaginable.
The festival will take place on Saturday, September 19 from 11:00AM to 11:00PM on the grass lawn of Rainbow Lagoon Park in downtown Long Beach.
Featured alongside the good music, the Folk Festival annually brings not just the Long Beach community together, but also invites young and budding folk fans to enjoy a day in the interactive Wee Folk Village, to dive into the folk crafts, instrument making, square dancing, face painting and balloon animals throughout the festival. The Family Stage will present the Hollow Trees’ “Folk Music for Families” band that will perform sing-a-long songs, stories and more kid friendly folk entertainment.
Kids will get the chance to make music at the Instrument Petting Zoo and learn to play real folk instruments with members of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. Boys and girls alike can craft their own beards and mustaches at the festival or bring their own from home and enter to win prizes during the Kids’ Beard & Mustache Contest.
Adult Folk Festival goers, fear not, for several folk-themed contests have been fashioned for your fun, as well. The annual Deering Banjo Contest will host a showdown of the fastest fingers, as in the best banjo pluckers of the west. The winner will receive a custom banjo ukulele courtesy of Deering Banjos. The return of Polly’s Pie Eating Contest will determine the first person who can eat an entire pie without using their hands.
The coveted Beard & Mustache Competition presented by the Long Beach Beard Advocates, anticipates nearly 100 entries in six different categories, including a female category where the ladies can dip into the artistry of crafting their own beards or mustaches.
The Long Beach Folk Festival will bring live music, gourmet food, craft beers, signature contests, the Wee Folk Village and the “Vintage Bazaar” shopping experience to downtown Long Beach.
Tickets are currently on-sale for $20 in advance online and can also be purchased day-of for $30. Admission is free for kids under 12 and seniors over 75. Complimentary bike valet will be available, so leave the car at home and ride down for a day of good old fashion folk and fun.
For more information about the Folk Revival Festival, to be held at Rainbow Lagoon Park at East Shoreline Drive, click here.