Despite the tough economy, two new one-day music festivals are slated for this month in Massachusetts, while the previously cancelled Boston Folk Festival is back on again for September. And the Essex Music Festival, now in its 16th year, moves to a new downtown location, along the Essex River, on August 29.

Berkshire Women’s Muse Fest debuts August 15 at Waconah Park in Pittsfield. Suzanne Vega, Cheryl Wheeler, SONiA of Disappear Fear, Lindsay Mac, Melissa Ferrick, Pamela Means, Gretchen Peters and Sarah Bettens (former lead singer of K’s Choice) are among the artists slated to perform on the festival’s two stages. Children’s activities, vendors, crafts, and plenty of food and drink also are on tap.

Move the Muse Fest is set for August 22 at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton. Conveniently located between Providence and Boston, the festival will feature three stages with notable artists whose styles run the gamut from rock and country to contemporary folk and blues. Two-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Kathy Mattea and roots legend Jesse Colin Young and his band headline the festival that also will include performances by such artists as Eliza Gilkyson, Girlyman, the Kennedys, David Jacobs-Strain, Vicki Genfan, Trina Hamlin, the Paper Raincoat, Jacob Johnson, Trina Hamlin, Natalia Zuckerman, and an emerging local artists showcase.

Both the Berkshire Women’s Muse Fest and Move the Muse Fest are billed as family-friendly, rain or shine festivals, with continuous music slated from noon to 8 p.m. Tickets for each of the two new one-day festivals may be purchased online for $25 or at the gate on the day of the show for $35. Visit www.bwmusefest.com and www.movethemusefest.com for more information.

Although proceeds from the Essex Music Festival support the continued restoration of Centennial Grove, the 16th annual event won’t take place there this month due to filming of a new Adam Sandler movie. Instead, the festival of American roots music will take place downtown at Memorial Park, behind the town hall and along the scenic Essex River. Slated for August 29, from noon to 10:30 p.m., the festival will feature an eclectic mix of music on two stages, capped off by a Cajun-Zydeco dance party with Boogaloo Swami. Bluegrass band Old Cold Tater hosts the day’s festivities, which also will feature dashes of folk, Americana, blues, ragtime, Celtic and maritime music performed by such artists as Sweet Loretta’s Snake Oil Jug Band, Orville Geddings Band, Squeezebox Stompers, Tamarac, Pick 3, Not That Blonde, Paul Prue, Backwards Ramblers, Chick and Ellen, Three Sheets to the Wind, and more.. Parking lot pickin’ also is on the schedule for those who’d like to bring their own acoustic instruments and jam. Tickets are $10; children ages 15 and under will be admitted free. For more information, visit www.essexmusicfestival.com.

The 12th annual Boston Folk Festival, which presenter WUMB Radio had called off earlier this year, returns as an all-indoor event with fewer established artists at UMass Boston, September 12-13. The festival’s annual Songwriting Contest Finals take place in Lipke Auditorium on Saturday night, from 6-9 p.m., while Sunday will feature three stages of music from noon to 6 p.m., along with children’s activities and food and crafts vendors. Artists scheduled to perform on Sunday include Dar Williams, Merrie Amsterburg, Jake Amerding, Geoff Bartley, witty Wisconsin-based duo Lou and Peter Berryman, Jeff Black, Boston T Party, Cindy Bullens, Aiofe Clancy with Chuck Colley and Eric Wendelken, Joe Crookston (an Ithaca, New York-based singer-songwriter and guitarist whose album Able Baker Charlie and Dog was the most aired recording by folk/acoustic DJs in the U.S. last year), Tim Gearan, Jeremy Lyons, Alastair Moock, Rose Polenzani, Kerri Powers, Jill Sobule, Abi Tapia (one of the emerging artists voted “Most Wanted to Return” at the 2008 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival), Michael Tarbox, Tripping Lily and Don White. For more information, including ticket prices, visit www.bostonfolkfestival.org.