Lowell Folk Festival Announces Some Performers For This Summer's Event

LOWELL, MA — The Lowell Folk Festival has announced the first set of performers for this summer's three-day event.

The 2023 festival will take place July 28-30 in downtown Lowell and feature music, crafts, food and family activities. The festival bills itself as one of the longest-running, free folk festivals in the country, and it routinely attracts nearly 150,000 attendees.

Highlighting the list of music and dance acts already announced are: Chicago blues singer Melody Angel, Irish supergroup Trian, kora player and singer Sona Jobarteh, rockabilly great Chuck Mead, Haitian singer Lakou Mizik, jazz and swing group Hot Club of Cowtown, tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith, New Mexican dance and music group Zuni Olla Maidens and the bluegrass band Springfield Exit.

Among the other types of music expected to be featured at the 36th festival are: Portuguese fado, Greek music, Cajun, and funk, as well as music from Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Organizers said the performance schedule will be out in July.

"We look with great anticipation to this year's Lowell Folk Festival," said Arthur Sutcliffe, chairman of the Lowell Festival Foundation. "We have a number of new things in the works for this year, so we hope you will join us."

Of course, music is just one element of the festival. The Folk Craft Area is expected to feature crafts like Chinese paper cutting, western boot making, lettered signs and decorative painting, Dominican carnival traditions, wood ship's steering wheels and more.

The Foods from Around the World area will feature cuisine from across the globe prepared and sold by local nonprofit organizations.

More details about the festival, including additional artists, will be announced in the coming weeks on the Lowell Folk Festival website.