Organizers Cancel Washington Folk Festival At Glen Echo Park For 2024

GLEN ECHO, MD — The Washington Folk Festival at Glen Echo Park, a staple of the region for more than 40 years, will not be held this summer due to a shortage of resources, the organizers said.

The annual festival celebrates folk music, dance and craft and has attracted thousands of visitors to Glen Echo Park over the decades.

The Folklore Society of Greater Washington (FSGW), organizers of the festival, said the decision to cancel this summer’s festival was not made lightly.

“Unfortunately, the Folklore Society of Greater Washington will not present the festival this year,” the organizers said. “Despite their best efforts, the FSGW Board was not able to organize the team of volunteers that it takes to produce this very large event with the standard of quality that audiences have come to expect.”

Additional concerns that factored into the decision were a shortage of time until the festival, as well as funding. “It is for these reasons that the FSGW Board voted to suspend the Festival,” the FSGW said.

“We would like to thank the many performers, volunteers, attendees, and staff at the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture who have supported the Folk Festival in the past,” the organizers said. “We look forward to finding new ways to celebrate the folk arts together in the future."

Glen Echo Park will have other programming to celebrate the arts this summer. The park’s free Summer Concerts series, running June through August, will feature musicians like Pablo Regis playing Brazilian music and Ruthie and the Wranglers playing American country tunes.

Also, the park’s Art Walk series will run from May through September on the first Friday of the month, bringing artists and exhibitions to the park.