Donna the Buffalo, an Americana roots band, headlines CT Folk’s 14th annual Connecticut Folk Festival & Green Expo. The daylong event takes place Saturday, Sept. 7, in New Haven’s Edgerton Park.
Extending from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., the festival kicks off with performances by the five top finalists in CT Folk’s 2019 Grassy Hill Songwriting Competition: Nick Depuy, Sharon Goldman, Margo Hennebach, Monica Rizzio, and Stan Sullivan. One of them will receive a performance slot in next year’s festival, as well as a cash prize. Susan Cattaneo, a Boston, Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter and songwriting professor at Berklee College of Music, who won he competition last year, will perform a 30-minute set immediately following the competition finals.
Other artists slated to showcase their talents on the Main Stage include (in order of appearance) Christine Sweeney, Quarter Horse, Jim Allyn Band, Amythyst Kiah Trio, Ghost of Paul Revere, and Birds of Chicago, while Donna the Buffalo will close out the festival.
Since coming together as a band in 1989, Donna the Buffalo has played thousands of concerts and such notable festivals as Bonaroo, MerleFest, Newport Folk Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, and Telluride. The band also launched the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg, New York – an annual four-day event near Ithaca that has spawned two other Grassroots Festivals in Florida and North Carolina.
Throughout the day, the 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 music and activities for children in the Green Kids Village.
Edgerton Park is located at Whitney Avenue and Cliff Street. Attendees are advised to bring lawn chairs or blankets and plan to picnic. Eight food trucks will be on site offering a wide variety of food and beverages for purchase.
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.
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