The Brooklyn Folk Festival, presented by the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music, will return this week at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, enter at 157 Montague Street. The Festival will open on Thursday evening, October 20, with the world premiere of a film, “Different Johns”, about the late John Cohen, a musician who has performed at past Festivals and who was also a musicologist, photographer, and teacher. The film begins at 8:00; doors open at 7:30.
There will be live musical performances on the Main Stage in the Sanctuary and on the Parish Hall Stage Friday evening, October 21, starting at 8:30. On Saturday, October 22, there will be afternoon performances on the Main Stage starting at noon, along with other events in the Parish Hall starting at 1:00, including a chance to show off your square dancing skills starting at 5:30. In the Workshop Room, starting at 12:15, there will be showings of three of John Cohen’s films. Evening performances on the Main Stage start at 7:00, and at 9:30 you can try your hand (and feet) at salsa dancing at the Parish Hall Stage with Willie Martinez and the NYC Salsa All Stars. Sunday will see a revival of the celebrated Banjo Toss; details are here. Meanwhile, you may sharpen your banjo-tossing skills for free with the Banjo Toss Video Game. There’s a full Festival schedule here; you may buy tickets here.
Friday evening’s Main Stage performances will begin at 8:30 with the Ukrainian Village Voices. These spellbinding singers have performed at the Festival before the present Ukraine crisis; the photo above, by your correspondent, shows them at the 2017 Festival.
