Three decades of fantastic Alaska Folk Music: 30th Alaska Folk Festival to be held April 12-18 at Juneau's Centennial Hall.

AuthorPilkington, Steve
PositionAlaska This Month

It was 30 years ago when a group of Southeast Alaska musicians decided, half tongue-in-cheek, to hold the First Annual Southeast Alaska Folk Festival. Three decades later, it is a charming, growing event with international flare and still holding the traditional hometown feel and goodtime music for amateurs and professionals.

"It started out as just a bunch of musicians getting together," said Michael Sakarias, secretary for the board of the Alaska Folk Festival Inc., the nonprofit organization behind the Juneau festival. "It turned out that 400 people showed up." Seeing the iron was hot, organizers planned a three day event the second year. Workshops were formed so specific skills could be passed on to other musicians, and almost 30 performers were on the program. By 1977 the annual festival had become a regional event with more than 50 performers from Southeast Alaska adding their talents to those of Junean's local musicians. The festival has grown.

The event has become the largest cultural event annually held in Juneau, with participants and attendees numbering over 10,000 and thousands more in the radio audience and on the Internet.

The festival typically features one paid guest performer or performers, but since this is the 30th anniversary, organizers decided to bring the Hot Club of Cowtown from Austin, Texas, as the guest performance artists and add Maya Soleil, a Seattle-based fusion music and dance group, as the guest dance artists.

"We have an advanced program this year," Sakarias said.

The Hot Club of Cowtown is described as a Western swing band, playing music of the old 1930s and 1940s swing style. Organizers say the performers will bring a special flare and nuance to this year's festival, which is scheduled April 12-18 at Juneau's Centennial Hall. Maya Soleil will add international spice to the program, its members hail from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Jamaica. There will, of course, be die...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT