Ferdinand Folk Festival
16sepAll DayFerdinand Folk Festival

Event Details
The Ferdinand Folk Festival takes place on September 16, 2023, at 18th Street Park in Ferdinand, Indiana. 2023 Schedule of events TBA-Check back soon About Ferdinand Folk Festival Nestled among the hills and
Event Details
The Ferdinand Folk Festival takes place on September 16, 2023, at 18th Street Park in Ferdinand, Indiana.
2023 Schedule of events TBA-Check back soon
About Ferdinand Folk Festival
Nestled among the hills and fields of southwestern Indiana, the Ferdinand Folk Festival, set in a beautiful 18th Street Park, provides a unique, family and earth-friendly opportunity for people from the region to share a day of live music, art, and environmental/wellness education.
Music
MIPSO brings together finely layered harmony vocals, while exploring the graceful fluency in the timeless musical traditions of their home state and a magical musical connection that makes their live shows something to experience.
Their most recent album (6th overall), the self-titled MIPSO, sees the foursome share their most sonically adventurous and lyrically rich effort to date. The group- fiddle player Libby Rodenbaugh, mandolinist Jacob Sharp, guitarist Joseph Terrell and bassist Wood Robinson- went deep within themselves and stretched the limits of their acoustic instruments to create their best work yet. Working with producer/musician Sandro Perri, MIPSO was guided toward a goal of a sonic landscape, both expansive ad atmospheric, yet surprisingly personal and even playful.
San Juan Island, WA-based indie folk-rock duo Mandy Fer and Dave McGraw are back at it with a new sound, and a new name: Sway Wild! Their exceptional vocal harmonies, coupled with Fer’s pioneering electric guitar work, have become a vehicle to carry them around the world, sharing stages with the likes of Iron & Wine, Lake Street Dive, and Watchhouse.
Sway Wild’s infectious sound explores the corners of rock, pop, funk, worldbeat, and folk, but at its nucleus it is undeniably a music full of joy. It can squeeze the heart in your chest, it can draw tears from your eyes, and it can force you to get up and move your body; over and over, it somehow manages to do all three at once. Mandy Fer also tours as the lead guitarist for Grammy nominated Allison Russell and recently performed with Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell.
Born in New York, but raised in Georgia, Jack Schneider is now considered a Nashville triple threat- guitarist, song-writer and singer- while also being a producer, guitar collector and analog connoisseur. His world is strewn with both eccentricity and nostalgia, quite the feat for an artist. Even while attending university in New York, Schneider was a frequent visitor to Nashville, spending school breaks and long weekends in Music City. While working at Gruhn’s Guitars, he met and befriended Vince Gill, among others. Since his graduation from the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Schneider has toured with Vince Gill, both as a guitar tech and player, produced records for several up-and-coming artists and played the Grand Ole Opry! Jack has a reverence for folk music and an instrumental prowess that captivates audiences everywhere.
The Folk/Americana duo March to August (formerly known as Route 358) prides itself on staying loyal to their acoustic roots and imaginative storytelling. Derrick and Jodi Mears have been touring regionally and nationally the past eight years and are supremely talented multi-instrumentalists who craft a unique sound, melding acoustic genres. They have been showcase artists at the Mid-West Folk Alliance, are two-time winners of the Walnut Valley Festival New Song Showcase and three-time nominees for Americana Artist of the Year at the Arkansas Country Music Awards.
Shawn Mayer has been captivating audiences with heart stirring lyrics delivered with her smoky soulful voice for more than 16 years. An accomplished artist and musician, Shawn first grabbed the national spotlight as 2nd runner-up on Nashville Star and has become a fixture in the vibrant Nashville music scene. She has earned much critical acclaim for her powerful performances and dynamic stage presence, with a sound that blends Americana with a rock-n-roll edge. Even with all this success, Shawn remains grounded, dedicated to her craft and true to her roots.
Will Scott, born and raised in Indy and Chicago, and raised in a musical family tradition surrounded by the blues, bluegrass, traditional country, jazz and rock-n-roll. Scott is well-known for his distinctive voice, original roots songwriting and a unique finger-style and slide guitar-style. Several of his albums have garnered much praise from the critics, with his 2009 release “
Keystone Crossing” receiving nominations for Independent Music Awards and the International Songwriting Competition, while also earning Top 10 status from Classic Rock Magazine. He is presently touring full-time with home bases here in southern Indiana and Brooklyn New York.
Our lead off act is the BurmaShavers, consisting of Southern Indiana’s Lonesome Steve and Southern Illinois’ Jerry Wilson. The twosome established their original New-Wave Acoustic eccentric Americana folk music sound in 2018. They have been kind enough to grace our Kyana Woodstock Market Stage the past couple of years. If the shadows hit just right, you just may spot the boys rehearsing along the banks of the Wabash River, sharing a cane fishing pole and a daydream to play their music for anyone and everyone who will lend an ear.
Art
The shaded lawn of the art market is a festival in itself. Dozens of regional artists and artisans display and sell their handmade work while music fills the air. Pottery, photography, clothing, jewelry, Fair Trade items from Third World countries, recycled goods, hula hoops, baked goods, soaps, tie-dyed items, woodworking, and more grace the grounds. A Plein air painter might even set up an easel to capture some of the magic of the festival.
Environment and Wellness
In the center of the art market are about 15 – 20 environmental and community groups—one of the region’s largest assemblies of ecology, nature, health, and wellness educators, including solar energy installers, air quality authorities, forest advocates, LGBTQ awareness/support organizations, astronomers, pet caretakers, organic farmers, music, art, festival, and theatre promoters, and more. Each group is dedicated to creating vibrant communities and a sustainable environment for our children—seven generations from now.
Children’s Events
To honor the children, in and around the lower shelter house, organizers offer a full day of fun and educational programs specifically for the young ones, such as a children’s concert, live theatre, wildlife programs, holding or petting animals, pony rides, storytelling, a harmonica workshop, interactive art, a violin concert, an MLK-inspired Dream Wall, and more. Nearby, across a small bridge, is a state-of-the-art playground with a new “musical park”, a nearby big-bounce “Playtown”, face-painting, and more. Children might even have an opportunity to hold a live animal, handle and play a violin, participate in an interactive storytelling activity, a children’s play, take a train ride through the park, or a pony ride.
Yoga, Tai Chi, Drum Circles, etc.
The festival offers several opportunities promoting health, such as participating in a yoga session by Fire Horse Yoga or a Tai Chi session the morning of the festival, attending a drum circle, and other wellness activities.
Music Workshops and Jam Session
Patrons can participate in a songwriting or music workshop and/or an all-day jam session, where all ages and all talent levels can play together in a fun, informal, and welcoming setting. These events usually take place in the upper shelter house.
Eco-Friendly, Healthful Living
Each year, the festival offers a variety of educational, eco-friendly activities such as meeting regional solar energy installers, solar home tours in the neighborhood, meeting doctors sharing facts about our region’s air quality and health concerns about Indiana’s bottom-ranking environmental record, seeing a new Tesla, enjoying giant renewable energy puppets, touring a tiny house, morning, before-the-festival activities like yoga, Tai Chi, a hike, or a bike ride before the festival, etc.
Tent Talks
Tent Talks—inspired by the renowned TED Talks—are a series of presentations and discussions under two blue tents near the outdoor music instrument play area east of the main playground. Each talk, led by an enthusiastic, qualified volunteer, focuses on a specific theme related to the festival, such as renewable energy, clean air, ukulele playing, garden pollinators, forest protection, knitting, energy conservation, etc. Eight talks, usually two per hour, begin at the top of the hour from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
For more information about the Ferdinand Folk Festival, click here.
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Time
All Day (Saturday)
where can i buy tickets
This event is free! 🙂
I’d love to play at this festival.