The Brooklyn Folk Festival presents the best in American and world folk music. Located in downtown Brooklyn, NY the festival is a celebration of down home music, cultural diversity and memory. Each year we draw talent from the New York, the national and the international world of folk, traditional and vernacular music.

The annual festival provides an opportunity for community to come together, enjoy music and take part in workshops, film screenings, contests and jam sessions. The festival is produced each year with the goal of achieving an event that is more than the sum of its parts.

The Brooklyn Folk Festival is presented by the Jalopy Theatre & School of Music, a grassroots community space that is a music venue, music school, instrument store and record label. By growing the Brooklyn Folk Festival since 2009, the Jalopy has created a substantial and unique community event that brings together thousands of music lovers and hundreds of musicians to celebrate the valuable musical traditions of the world's peoples.

The 3-day festival includes 30+ bands, vocal and instrumental workshops, a family-friendly square dance, jam sessions, film screenings, the famous Banjo Toss contest and more!

Schedule of Events

Saturday Afternoon

Main Stage

12:00pm: Suzi Shelton - children's music out on Jalopy Records - Release Party!

12:50pm: Isto - original folk songs

2:30pm: Cole Quest & The City Pickers - bluegrass with a fresh and innovative sound to the traditional genre

3:20pm: Suzy & Eric Thompson - powerhouse duo of traditional music powers with a repertoire of Cajun, Blues and Old-Time songs and instrumentals.

4:10pm: Feral Foster - author/vocalist presenting originals imbued with the terror of America's closeted skeletons

5:00pm: Los Texmaniacs - conjunto band created by Max Baca in 1997

5:50pm: Miriam & Yva - Venezuelan vocal and guitar duets

Parish Hall

12:00pm: Ken Schatz Sea Shanty Sing

12:50pm: Jalopy Harmony Singing Method with Emily Eagen

2:10pm: Jan Bell - folk music

3:00pm: Riyae Park - folk and bluegrass

3:15pm: Jalopy School of Music Showcase

4:10pm: Dirdy Birdies - The World's Most Dangerous Jug Band

5:00pm: Boxcutter Collective - Jalopy's resident puppet troupe

5:50pm: The Pine Leaf Boys - American Cajun and Creole music from South Louisiana

Workshop Room

2:00pm: Workshop with Mat & Yvonne

2:50pm: Eric Isaacson from Mississippi Records presents ‘A People's History of American Music'

4:30pm: A Conversation with Resistance Revival Chorus and Nick Panken (Freedom Highway, Spirit Family Reunion)

Saturday Evening

Main Stage

7:00pm: David Amram: legendary jazz composer and pianist

7:50pm: Nora Brown - traditional music with a focus on Southern Appalachian banjo and guitar playing

8:40pm: Lone Piñon - New Mexican string band

9:30pm: Sunny War - Folk-Punk musician and songwriter based in Los Angeles.

10:20pm: Jerron Paxton - old-time and traditional music

Afterparty at Jalopy Tavern at 317 Columbia Street

Parish Hall

7:00pm: The Slide Stops with Dance Lessons from Sargent Seedoo - country music and dance!

8:00pm: Sabine McCalla - New Orleans soul and R&B

9:00pm: The Deslondes - “It's a gumbo of all different genres and time periods”

10:00pm: Jackson & The Janks - rock and roll and rhythm and blues garage gospel band

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