Folk Festival Again Mixes 

Music and Nature for Family Fun

The Central Ohio Folk Festival celebrates its 28th year May 3-4, 2025 with its annual two-day family friendly festival featuring scores of performances, workshops, interactive jamming and song gatherings, and crafts the whole family can enjoy.  Over the two days, the festival attracts more than 12,000 people from Central Ohio and beyond.

 

The setting is the great outdoors, amongst the lush green forests and meadows of Highbanks Metro Park, 9466 North High Street (U.S. Route 23), Lewis Center Ohio, just a few miles north of Columbus.  

 

Festival highlights:

• 35 performances on 3 stages featuring an invigorating mix of folk/roots/Americana music. Attendees will experience a sweeping range of genres — from singer-songwriter, old-time, bluegrass, blues, Irish, Celtic, and Americana, to neo-country, progressive stringband, reggae, and even an improv jam band featuring some of the festival artists. In typical folk style, the songs and lyrical themes often reflect the struggles and triumphs of everyday people. 
• A giant folk music sing-along will open the festival at 11 am Saturday with a focus on songs by well known folk heroes (think John Prine, Bob Marley, Simon and Garfunkel, and Bob Dylan), plus a poignant song circle will close the fest on Sunday.
• 30+ music workshops covering all levels. Just a few topic examples: songwriting, fiddle, Appalachian dulcimer, guitar, mandolin, and banjo. There are even beginner workshops with loaner instruments available. 
• Our YouthFolk Tent serves kids and youth with music, storytelling, and workshops. Workshop offerings include making a drum out of wooden box frames (and using them)!  
• The festival also features an “Instrument Petting Zoo” — an in-demand favorite — where children can try out various folk instruments.  There are also hands-on arts and crafts for kids.  Plus…festival mascot Darby Duck will be on hand to charm the young and young-at-heart.  
• 2 drum circles where everyone, young and old alike, is invited to pound on a drum or other rhythm instrument to a mesmerizing beat.
• Ongoing open jam tents, each with a different thrust: bluegrass, old-time, folk-mix, pure song, and one dedicated to encouraging the beginner.  
• Sunday opens with an 11 am performance by Mark Hunter (aka C LA C I), known and acclaimed locally as the lead singer for The Ark Band. He’ll be bringing everyone together at the festival’s “Songs of the Spirit” slot, presenting acoustic roots storytelling music — reggae style.
• The festival offers a festival store, beer gardens featuring Nocterra craft beer, and food trucks on site.

 

The variety of choices is mind-blowing! Saturday and Sunday afternoons, at any one time, festival-goers will have their choice of attending any one of more than a dozen different activities: a true embarrassment of riches! So many choices, so little time! 

HEADLINER: 

Saturday, May 3 at 7 pm, in the festival main tent beneath a starlit sky, our headliner act, Richard Shindell, will create musical magic. Originally from Long Island, New York and now residing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Shindell is an acclaimed writer whose songs vividly paint pictures, tell stories, and inhabit characters, all the while evoking entire worlds along the way. Over the years, he has worked with the likes of Joan Baez, Lucy Kaplansky, and Dar Williams. The Wall Street Journal has called him “a master of the subtle narrative.” 

To reserve an inside seat for our headliner concert, visit: CentralOhioFolkFestival2025donate.eventbrite.com/  Pre-donation is recommended over on-site if you hope to get inside tent seating for the Saturday night concert. Otherwise there is plenty of lawn seating.  

ADMISSION:

Our festival is a "free-will donation" event. All festival events are accessible by anyone entering the grounds, including the Saturday evening headliner concert and workshops. We have donation tents at the entrance. Know that your generous $$ support makes all of this possible. For a donation of $20 or more, you’ll get a fun flexible flyer, a cookie and a sticker (while supplies last)!

WHAT DO FOLKS SAY ABOUT US? 

“It's been a joy exploring the festival . . . It's obvious that there's a true passion for artfulness in music.”

“Love it! Awesome way to introduce our kids to folk music.”

“The workshops were very informative and interactive.”

“Jam tent was awesome. Magical how various musicians just ‘walked up’ and started playing!”

The festival is produced by the Columbus Folk Music Society in cooperation with the Metro Parks and co-sponsored by WCBE 90.5FM. 

The festival is held in the Big Meadows area of Highbanks Metro Park.

ADDITIONAL INFO at:  www.columbusfolkmusicsociety.org/festival

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