A Midwinter Festival of Folk Arts
?Minifest Destiny?
Saturday, February 3
12 noon to 6 pm Workshops, Mini concerts, Dances, Jams
7:30 pm Concert and Dance
The original organizers of the MidWinter Festival always called it ?MiniFest? for shorthand, and the term is hard to shake. It?s just the destiny of this gathering.The Folklore Society of Greater Washington (FSGW) is pleased to present its annual indoor Mid-Winter Festival at Takoma Park Middle School, 7611 Piney Branch Road, Silver Spring, on Saturday, February 3 from noon to 6 pm, followed by a festival concert and dance from 7:30 to 10:30. Join us for a day featuring traditions in music, dance, and storytelling!We?ve programmed eight rooms during the day from noon to 6:00 pm. We?re even starting a couple of them early, at 11:30 to hear music and to make music, to dance, to listen to stories or to tell them, to pursue crafts, and to eat and drink.Bring your ears. We?ve got performances by singers, blues players, bluegrass players, country and western folk, jug and skiffle bands, Irish and Celtic bands, folks who revive music of bygone times, folks who write songs on contemporary issues, and folks who take old materials and transform them into the newest thing. Some are well-known Wammie nominees and winners, and some are your neighbors who you never knew had musical talent.Bring your eyes. Morris and Sword-wrapper teams demonstrate their routines in the Gym, and cloggers take to the stage of the Cafetorium.Bring your feet. We?ll teach Macedonian and Serbian dances, and have dances featuring Scottish and English country dances, Eastern squares, and clogging.Bring your voices. Dede Wyland offers tips for vocal power, and you can join in choruses of harmony singing, sea chanteys, Sacred Harp hymns, camp meeting songs and gospel tunes, or singarounds based on themes such as ballads, traveling songs, and contemporary songs. Even if you can?t sing a note, we?ve still got a place for you: a story-telling swap, hosted by Bill Mayhew.Bring your instruments. There are chances to jam with blues, led by the folks from Archie?s Barbershop, who will move to Takoma Park for the day. The Irish Breakfast Band will host a sessiun Matt Levine leads a workshop called ?Twangy Things? and Marv and Kathy Reitz lead an American Roots jam where almost anything goes.Bring your appetite. We?ll have beverages, food, and snacks available for purchase all afternoon in the kitchen just off of the Cafetorium.Bring your money. Vendors will offer the latest in musical instruments and recordings, and crafters will offer their latest creations, all worthwhile ways to part with a dollar or two. Oh yeah, there?s an admission charge, which goes to support the big Washington Folk Festival in June (which is why this one got called the ?minifest? in the first place). After dinner, the fun resumes at 7:30.The evening dance features the Hot Square Babes calling squares, contras, and a few creative dances beyond category, with music provided by AP and the Banty Roosters.Meanwhile, an evening concert samples the world of folk: Early country harmonies by the Blue Moon Cowgirls, old-time music with Leah Weiss and Gary Wright, and down-home Washington-style blues with the Shackbreakers, interspersed with traditional a cappella singing from Judy Cook and Lisa Null.You?re welcome to bop back and forth between the dance and the concert ? if you can?t make up your mind which evening event to choose, sample them both! A tentative schedule will be found by clicking here, though it?s subject to change. The schedules posted here will be updated up until the day of the festival. A final version will be distributed on the day of the Festival at the School.
