Connecticut Folk Festival Set for Sept. 8, 2018

Martin Sexton, an acclaimed singer-songwriter, headlines CT Folk’s 13th annual Connecticut Folk Festival and Green Expo. The daylong event is set for Saturday, Sept. 8, in New Haven’s Edgerton Park.

The festival, which runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., kicks off with performances by the five top finalists in the 2018 Grassy Hill CT Folk Songwriter Competition: Belle of the Fall, Susan Cattaneo, Mike Laureanno, Mike P. Ryan, and Carolann Solebello. One of them will receive a performance slot in next year’s festival, as well as a $150 cash prize. Open Book, a husband-and-wife duo (Michele and Rick Gedney) from New York’s Hudson Valley who won the competition last year, will perform a set in the late afternoon.

Other artists slated to perform on the Main Stage include The Alternate Routes, Goodnight Blue Moon, Plywood Cowboy, Professors of Bluegrass, Jesse Terry Trio, and UPSTATE (formerly known as Upstate Rubdown), while Sexton will close out the festival.

Since bursting on the music scene in the early 1990s, Sexton has released nine albums, toured extensively, and has had his songs featured in a number of feature films and television shows. Not one to be pigeonholed to one particular genre, Sexton has delved in Americana, rock, blue-eyed soul and folk.

Throughout the day, CT Folk’s 13th annual Green Expo will feature a wide array of exhibitors, informational talks and demonstrations, workshops, and activities to promote sustainable lifestyles. There also will be plenty of activities for children in the Green Kids Area – including music in the Acoustic Corner.

Edgerton Park is located at Whitney Avenue and Cliff Street. Attendees are advised to bring lawn chairs or blankets and plan to picnic. A wide variety of food and beverages will be available for purchase on site. There will be several food trucks and a craft beer tent.

CT Folk seeks to educate, entertain, and inspire a diverse audience through music and conversation to create a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable community. A suggested $10 donation during the festival will help the nonprofit organization carry out its mission. Besides presenting the festival, CT Folk also hosts a Folk Fridays concert series that runs from October through May and promotes traditional and contemporary folk and roots music throughout Connecticut. For more information, click here or visit www.ctfolk.org.

Editor’s Note: It is my honor and pleasure to again help judge this year’s Grassy Hill CT Folk Songwriter Competition finals that extend from 11 a.m. -12 p.m. on the Main Stage.