February 5, 2005 Takoma Park Middle School
Daytime sessions 12 Noon to 6:00 p.m.
Evening sessions 7:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.
The FSGW Mini-Fest is a family-friendly extravaganza of music, dance, stories, workshops, and crafts. Some of the area's finest musicians will show off their virtuosic skills, but there will also be opportunities to share music with neighbors, or to try your hand jamming in a new style.During the day, we'll offer concerts in Bluegrass, blues, and ballads, from the Baltics to the Balkans and beyond. Or try your hand at dancing--everything from Morris dancing to Romanian and Armenian dances will be offered in the Dance Room, with both demonstrations and a chance to learn and dance yourself (no partner required!). No matter what your skill level, you can jam the blues with folks from Archie's Barbershop, or playing Irish music with members of the Irish Breakfast Band, or sing Sea Chanteys with Ships Company. Storytellers will hold forth all day in one room and traditional American singers in another. Yet another room will offer Roots/Americana music--everything from bluegrass to country. We haven't forgotten children and the inner child in all of us: Andy Cooper will lead traditional singing games, and Jim Bunch will show how to make musical instruments from found objects. The Folklore Society of Greater Washington will take a celebratory look at itself on its 40th anniversary.An evening concert will feature the wild and authentic modern Klezmer music of Klezcentricity (David Julian Gray, Wendy Morrison, and Richard Seidel), and Nicholas Sironka's troupe of Kenyan Maasai villagers (who we've snagged on their very first tour of America!). You can also hear the inspired silliness of the All New Genetically Altered Jug Band, and stories by Bill Mayhew which might or might not be silly. A simultaneous dance will offer contradances and English Country Dances, led by some of the greatest callers in America--the entire leadership of the Country Dance and Song Society will be around to call the evening dances.Some of the featured performers include: the Orange Line Special, Cabaret Sauvignon, the Barrelhouse Brawl, Moch Pryderi, the Fleastompers, Lyuti Chushki, the Bread and Roses Chorus, and the DC Labor Chorus. We'll have appearances by such talented individuals as Joe Hickerson, Judy Cook, Lisa Null, Margaret and Ralph Chatham, Bruce Hutton, Mary Sue Twohy, Andy Wallace, Karen Collins, and Ruthie Logsdon.Crafters will offer their wares in the cafetorium, where you can also purchase folk music recordings and other stuff, both of festival performers, and from House of Musical Traditions and Camsco Music. If you want lunch or just a nosh to keep going, food will be available for purchase all day. Held the first Saturday in February, the Mini-Fest provides all comers with a refreshing opportunity to beat the winter blues, visit with friends and neighbors, and be part of some of the finest music that the Washington area has to offer!Click here to get the most recently updated performance schedule, in .pdf format, viewable with the free Acrobat Reader.2005 MiniFest Admission FeesFull Day (afternoon AND evening):
Adults: $12, FSGW members and $15 non-members
Children from 6 to 12: $5 for FSGW members and $6 for non-members
Children under 6: free for all
Family maximum: $35 for FSGW members and $45 for non-members.
Half Day (afternoon [12-6] OR evening):
Adults: $7, FSGW members and $10 non-members
Children from 6 to 12: $3 for FSGW members and $4 for non-members
Children under 6: free for all
Family maximum: $21 for FSGW members and $30 for non-members.
