Salisbury, MD — This September in Downtown Salisbury, listen for the sounds of Polish polka and go-go, as those are two more genres that will be represented at the Maryland Folk Festival.
The Boys, The Chuck Brown Band, Furia Flamenca Dance Company and Cascading Carlos the Juggler will all be featured at the festival, which is set for Friday-Sunday, Sept. 22-24.
These artists will join The Blue and Gold, Daryl Davis Band, The High & Wides, Ken & Brad Kolodner and Tifane, who were announced last week.
The City of Salisbury will host the inaugural Maryland Folk Festival after five years as the host of the National Folk Festival, which was produced in collaboration with the National Council for the Traditional Arts.
Approximately 300 artists—musicians, dancers, storytellers, and craftspeople—will take part in the event, with more than 30 different musical groups performing on four outdoor stages throughout Downtown Salisbury. The Maryland Folk Festival strives to present the nation’s finest traditional artists.
The artists announced today include:
The Boys (Millersville, Maryland) – Polish-style polka
The Boys are an award-winning, six-piece, contemporary Polish-style polka band that features the instruments of two trumpets, accordion, concertina, bass and drums, and four vocalists. Two of its members have been inducted into the Polka Hall of Fame.
The Chuck Brown Band (Washington, D.C.) – go-go
The Chuck Brown Band toured the world with the Godfather of Go-Go for the most prolific period of his life. Now, the band continues to honor him by carrying the torch, keeping the beat alive and the party going. With Chuck’s son Wiley Brown leading the band forward on vocals, the Chuck Brown Band is arguably the “Crankin’est Band on the Planet.”
Furia Flamenca Dance Company (Washington, D.C. metro area) – flamenco
Led by flamenco master Estela Vélez de Paredez, this award-winning dance company brings the ferocity and passion of flamenco to the stage and transports audiences to Southern Spain in technically refined, emotionally explosive and dynamically choreographed dancing.
In addition, The Richard A. Henson Foundation Family Area will host four pop-up performances by Cascading Carlos the Juggler.
Cascading Carlos the Juggler (Delmar, Delaware) – juggling
Two-time Guinness World Record title holder Carlos Mir, aka Cascading Carlos the Juggler, loves to mesmerize audiences with his high-energy interactive juggling skills.
The Maryland Folk Festival will feature individual artists on Facebook (facebook.com/MDFolkFestival), Twitter (twitter.com/mdfolkfestival), and Instagram (instagram.com/mdfolkfestival/) throughout the next month. More performers will be announced as they are confirmed.
To learn more about these artists and their stories, please visit https://mdfolkfest.com/performers/.
Performer photos, bios and audio clips may be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/23mdff-artist-bios. Photo credits should be listed and can be found in image file names.
About the Maryland Folk Festival
After five years as the host of the National Folk Festival, produced in collaboration with the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), the City of Salisbury’s Arts, Business, and Culture Department is proud to launch its own legacy festival. In 2023, the City of Salisbury, Maryland will take center stage with the Maryland Folk Festival from Sept. 22-24.
This large-scale, multi-day outdoor event celebrates the roots, richness and variety of American culture. It features hundreds of the nation’s finest musicians, dancers, craftspeople and other keepers of culture in performances, workshops, and demonstrations, plus children’s activities, non-stop participatory dancing, storytelling, and more. https://mdfolkfest.com/
About the City of Salisbury, Maryland
Founded in 1732, Salisbury is the county seat of Wicomico County, a place where John Smith touched land in 1608 during his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay, bringing him in contact with the Wighcocomoco or Wicomico, the Nause, the Kusk’arawack, and the Nantaquack or Nanticoke tribes who had lived in the region for several millennia. Situated on Maryland’s historic Eastern Shore at the crossroads of the Delmarva Peninsula, Salisbury is now one of the region’s largest cities, and serves as the capital of the Eastern Shore, a rural area defined by its agricultural and maritime traditions, landscapes, and industries. The Chesapeake Bay is central to this distinctive identity. Though a relatively small city, Salisbury is the geographic and economic hub of one of the nation’s fastest-growing Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The City of Salisbury is working to build its reputation as an arts and culture destination and is aligning its downtown development and revitalization efforts with the arts. Salisbury believes hosting the Maryland Folk Festival is the perfect catalyst to further a cultural renaissance and urban renewal. https://salisbury.md/
ABCD Events
The Arts, Business & Culture Department is responsible for fostering Salisbury’s thriving economic climate through supporting business, expanding economic opportunity, promoting artistic expression, hosting unique experiences, and maintaining regional attractions such as the Salisbury Zoo and Poplar Hill Mansion. By producing signature events, facilitating business incentives, and collaborating with stakeholders, this department strives to make Salisbury a place where arts, business, and culture intersect and flourish. https://salisbury.md/departments/arts-business-culture
