The Lowell Festival Foundation announced the 35th Anniversary Lowell Folk Festival will take place in person on July 29, 30, and 31 of 2022!
This is the first time the event will take place since 2019 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Planners are hoping this year’s event will mark a new chapter in the regions recovery from the pandemic providing a stimulus to tourism and local businesses.
This is a staple cultural event of the region since its inception in 1987. The 2022 festival will feature close to 20 performing groups who will share their unique musical traditions on stages throughout downtown Lowell. The Lowell Folk Festival attracts more than 150,000 people for three days of fun filled music, food, and art.
“THERE’S A LOT OF EXCITEMENT TO BRING THIS FESTIVAL BACK TO LOWELL, THIS FESTIVAL DOES A LOT OF GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES OF LOWELL, AND WE’RE THRILLED TO BRING IT BACK FOR THEM”
Art Sutcliffe, Chairman of the Lowell Festival Foundation
The festival site has evolved since 1987 and this year, festival organizers will bring more elements closer to downtown in order to consolidate the footprint. The changes being made are designed to improve audience experience while simultaneously keeping the festival within the vibrant downtown neighborhood. The festival’s dance stage will be moving to Arcand Drive with an adjacent food court on JFK Plaza, including many fan-favorite multicultural community food vendors. The Marker Street Stage will be much larger and placed on the street itself. This new stage will feature blues, polka, and Cajun bands while also offering a food court in Market Street Park.
Nonprofit community food vendors will serve traditional dishes representing over a dozen cultures. In the Folk Craft Area, the theme is Crafting Sound: Making & Restoring Musical Instruments which will feature demonstrations playing and building the instruments. The Foodways Area will explore comfort foods from an array of communities.
The lineup of artists will be announced in the coming weeks, be sure to check out lowellfolkfestival.org for more details and all future updates for the festival. You can also follow it on their Facebook found here.
Julie Fairweather
One of the founders of Dirty Water Media, Julie Fairweather serves as the company’s managing editor, marketing director and contributing writer/producer. In addition to her work with Dirty Water Media, Julie is also an award-winning journalist with 20+ years experience developing marketing and public relations strategies for emerging businesses. Julie has also worked as an assignment manager and reporter for WLVI-TV 56 in Boston and a news anchor and reporter from an NBC affiliate in North Platte, NE. Julie is a past President and former Executive Director of The Publicity Club of New England, a 300-member trade organization for the Greater Boston public relations community. She also taught broadcast journalism and radio and television producing at her alma mater Emerson College in Boston, MA. Her most accomplished position is as the mother to her three amazing children.