Check back often for news on GLFF musicians, activities, events and features!
LOOK FOR PROGRAM GUIDE, SCHEDULE IN SATURDAY'S STATE JOURNAL
The Lansing State Journal will include a 16-page GLFF program guide in Saturday's paper. Pick up a copy and read up on artist biographies, performance schedules, transportation and parking, a site map and more festival basics. Bring the guide along to the festival for easy reference too! Thanks to the Lansing State Journal for sponsoring this comprehensive guide to culture, tradition, and community.
LISTEN UP!
To get a festival music preview, tune in to WKAR FM 90.5's "Folk Tradition" on Sunday, Aug. 3, from 6-7 p.m. Host Bob Blackman will feature a play list of GLFF performers.
WKAR/FM 90.5 will join the weekend's festivities with live broadcasts on both Saturday, Aug. 9 and Sunday, Aug. 10, from noon-5 p.m. at the intersection of Albert and Abbott. WKAR-FM music hosts Melissa Ingells and Mark Schwitzgoebel will present festival updates and will pre-empt the station's usual classical music offerings and air folk music by the artists performing during the GLFF! Also on hand during the weekend's activities will be Curt Gilleo and Matt Ferguson, WKAR news producers, who will present live interviews with various festival performers. Bob Blackman will also be a stage presenter on the Valley Court stage.
VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION SESSIONS SET
GLFF volunteer sessions are set for 2-4 p.m. for Saturday, Aug. 2, and 7-9 p.m. for Monday, Aug. 4. Returning volunteers have the option of simply picking up their T-shirts and information packets only.
Orientation is at Hannah Center at 819 Abbott Road at Burcham, just south of Saginaw Highway (Business 69), the East Lansing Post Office and the East Lansing Public Library. If you have not received your volunteer assignment(s), please call Patrick Power or Liisa Bergmann at 517-432-4533 for confirmation.
Thanks to all who have signed on to help produce this large-scale community event.
Teams and organizations are still welcome for the Bucket Brigade; contact GLFF at (517) 432-GLFF to get involved. This is a great way to draw attention to your business or organization, and your group will receive recognition and a public thanks from the stage.
GLFF musical group Tamburitza Rroma will play at the Volunteer and Performer Party, on Saturday, Aug. 9, at 10:30 p.m. at Harper's in downtown East Lansing.
GLFF SCHEDULE AVAILABLE
The performance schedule is now in place for the Great Lakes Folk Festival. New for 2003 is the Legacy Stage, featuring traditional arts performances on Saturday and Sunday from the MSU Museum's Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program -- bones and spoons playing, East Indian dance, Highland bagpipes, Finnish accordion and the Swedish nyckelharpa.
In all, the weekend features more than 75 performances on five music and dance stages. Dance lessons will also precede many sets, so festival-goers can learn the basics of Cajun, polka and Scandinavian styles. Read more about it on the GLFF web site at: http://www.greatlakesfolkfest.net/Schedule/Music/index.html . The schedule may be subject to change.
Major funding for the music program is provided by the City of East Lansing.
CATA ANNOUNCES GLFF BUS ROUTES
Great Lakes Folk Festival Bus Routes will operate:
Friday, Aug. 8 - 4:30 -11:30p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 9 - 11a.m.-11:30p.m.; and
Sunday, Aug. 10-- 11a.m.-6:30p.m.
Buses will run approximately every 10 minutes, and the service is open to all - it is not restricted to GLFF patrons.
The fare for this service is free and customers may ask for a free transfer ticket for other CATA routes. Look for bike racks on CATA fixed route buses. All buses are equipped with wheelchair ramps or lifts. Service animals (such as guide dogs) accompanying our customers are welcome on all CATA vehicles.
For more details, call CATA Customer Information at (517) 394-1000 or see http://www.cata.org .
VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED!
The festival still has some open slots for volunteers. Volunteers are needed to fill two- to four-hour shifts in a variety of areas, including staffing information booths, children's areas, Bucket Brigades, and site set-up and tear-down. Volunteers are especially needed to fill Bucket Brigade slots -- and collect donations from the crowd that help with production expenses for this large-scale community event. Groups, organizations and businesses are encouraged to make Bucket Brigade teams.
For information on volunteering, contact Patrick Power at the MSU Museum at (517) 353-4574 or email glffvolunteer@museum.msu.edu . Or, read the volunteer job descriptions on the web site.
Volunteer orientation sessions are set for:
Saturday, Aug. 2, 1-5 p.m. and
Monday, Aug. 4, 6-9 p.m. at the Hannah Community Center in East Lansing.
SPECIAL SCREENING OF RALPH STANLEY DOCUMENTARY SET FOR SATURDAY, AUG. 9
"Ralph Stanley's Story" film screening and discussion with filmmaker Herb E. Smith.
Saturday, Aug. 9, 4:30 p.m.
MSU Union Gold Room B
$5 suggested donation
Ralph Stanley's Story is a portrait of this Grammy award-winning bluegrass great and current star of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. For over 50 years, Ralph Stanley's "clawhammer" style banjo playing, haunting tenor voice and tradition-inspired repertoire have epitomized old time bluegrass music. This documentary explores Stanley's musical roots in the Clinch Mountains of Virginia, the early days of The Stanley Brothers, and Ralph's decision to continue on after the untimely death of brother Carter. Interviews with Ralph, former band members, and fellow musicians like Patty Loveless and Dwight Yoakam are intercut with live performances of such songs as "Rank Stranger," "Pretty Polly," and "Man of Constant Sorrow," and performance from his annual "Hills of Home Bluegrass Festival."
Filmmaker Herb E. Smith, a native of Whitesburg, Kentucky, has been making award-winning documentary films about people in the Appalachian Mountains for over 30 years. Other films include Beyond Measure: Appalachian Culture and Economy, Unbroken Tradition: Jerry Brown Pottery, Strangers and Kin, and Hand Carved. For more, see: http://www.appalshop.org/film/ralph.htm .
Ralph Stanley performs on the GLFF Valley Court Stage on Saturday, Aug. 9, at 8:15 p.m.
GLFF Volunteer Recruitment
Another Great Lakes Folk Festival Volunteer Recruitment is set for Saturday, May 17, from noon-2 p.m. in Schuler Books, located at the Eastwood Towne Center.
The open house will provide first-time volunteers an opportunity to meet the GLFF festival planners and learn about the more than 400 volunteer positions available and special volunteer perks. Volunteers are needed to fill two- and four-hour shifts in a variety of areas, including staffing information booths, children's areas, bucket brigades, and site set-up and tear-down. The Eastwood Towne Center is located off Lake Lansing Rd. at 2820 Towne Center Blvd., Lansing, MI 48912.
The first wave of musical artists is now set!
Click here to read about the first ten GLFF musical performers!
GLFF Volunteer Open House
The first Great Lakes Folk Festival Volunteer Recruitment Open House is set for Wednesday, April 9, from 3-9 p.m. at the East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbott Road, in East Lansing.
The drop-in open house will provide first-time volunteers an opportunity to meet the GLFF festival planners and learn about the more than 400 volunteer positions available and special volunteer perks. Click here for more information!
Great Lakes Folk Festival Benefit!
Can't get enough of the Folk Fest? The Michigan State University Museum will present an evening of Celtic and Cajun music at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 6, at MSU's Wharton Center for the Performing Arts. Featuring Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster and Louisiana's young sextet Feufollet, here's your chance to preview the festival and help a great cause. Click here for more information!
Now Accepting Submissions for the 2003 Great Lakes Folk Festival
Click here for more information!
2003 Festival Dates Set
August 8-10, 2003, downtown East Lansing
Sounds and sites
The Music Selection Committee has convened a number of suggestions and submissions are being reviewed. The festival will also explore working with the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs to host an international artist or group, similar to the cultural exchange with the Bahamas Junkanoo parade group that MCACA underwrote to the 2002 festival. Look for music group announcements in the new year!
Based on audience feedback and traffic flow patterns, festival planners are looking at bringing back the MAC stage, a venue that worked well for both big sound and smaller, more intimate performances. In addition, the Abbott Road stage will likely move northward on Abbott, farther away from Grand River Avenue traffic noise spillover. As a result, all the Folk Arts Market Place crafts vendors would be consolidated in a single location -- the lot behind People's Church.
Sharing our stories
In other festival developments: Michigan State University Museum and the Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries have teamed together to lead Michigan's participation in the American Folklife Center/Library of Congress' national Veterans History Project. At the festival a stage will host individuals who will share their stories of America in war during the 20th century, both in battle and on the home front, as well as stories of those whose lives were profoundly impacted by war.
We're honored
In its first year, the 2002 Great Lakes Folk Festival and the MSU Museum were recognized recently by Greater Lansing's Regional Economic Development Team and its Regional Excellence Awards program. The festival was honored for "Cooperation for Regional Excellence in Arts & Culture." This honor speaks well of the event's place as a vibrant and vital part of our community's fabric. Thanks again to all who helped make the 2002 event such a success.
Volunteer at the folk festival!
It takes more than 400 volunteers to help produce this large-scale community event of music, arts, dance and activities that fill the streets of East Lansing. Be a part of the action and learn first-hand about the programming and development by volunteering at the festival. Volunteers are needed in a variety of areas, including staffing information booths, children's areas, bucket brigades, and site set-up and tear-down. Contact: glffvolunteer@museum.msu.edu .
Be a friend of the festival
- Do you value having the Great Lakes Folk Festival in the East Lansing community?
- Do you appreciate seeing top-quality performers and artists, cooks, and craftspeople all in one place over one weekend?
- Do you value learning about the skills and artistry of individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds?
- Do you want to keep the Great Lakes Folk festival accessible to all, regardless of their financial background?
- Do you think it is important that this festival is an entertaining AND educational experience for people of all ages?
If your answer is yes to any of the above then please consider contributing to the Great Lakes Folk Festival at: MSU Museum, Tim Soule, Director of Development, West Circle Drive, East Lansing, MI 48824; 517-355-2370.
Thanks for supporting the festival.
