The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival returns to the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut, July 25-27, 2025, preceded by a Pre-Fest Day of Tastings & Farm Market and Thursday Night Music Stage on July 24. In addition to dozens of artists performing on several stages, dancing, children’s music and activities, and a wide array of crafts, food and other vendors, AcousticMusicScene.com will join with Tribes Hill in hosting late-night song swaps and open song circles under a big white canopy tent.
Now in its 37th year, the popular festival officially kicks off on Friday, July 25 at noon. That’s when 15 artists/acts have been invited to perform in the 2025 Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase on the festival’s Mainstage. Appearing in this year’s showcase are (listed alphabetically by first name or name of group, not in order of appearance) are Alexander Parlee & The Ellipses, Alicia Stockman, Allison Strong, Belle of the Fall, Bryan Titus, Couldn’t Be Happiers, High Tea, Jeremy Facknitz, Joe Gorka, Lucy Isabel, Mt. Gribley, Sierra West, Splendid Torch, Stacia Thiel, and Stefan Weinar, and The Twangtown Paramours. Although there is no compensation for showcasing artists, each will receive full admission, on-site camping and meals for the festival, plus a guest pass.
The Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase is not a contest, and artists won’t be judged per se during the festival, although the audience is surveyed as to which showcase artists they’d like to see return the following year to participate in a Most Wanted Song Swap. In evaluating submissions, a panel of three judges looked for high-quality performances of interesting, well-crafted, acoustic-based material. This year’s judges were Patty Romanoff (Bulletproof Artist Management), (Jake Jacobsen (a veteran folk concert presenter and photographer) and Bob Johnson (WPKNN Radio in Bridgeport, CT).
The winners of last year’s Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase –Alex Rados, Tina Ross and Louie Lou Louis — also are slated to showcase their talents during the festival. The three have been participating in a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival “Most Wanted” Artists Tour leading up to the festival.
During the festival, an Activities 4 Kids program, Circle of Song acoustic community area at the gazebo, Family Stage and Workshop Stage also will begin on Friday afternoon, July 25, while evening Mainstage performances and nightly dancing are slated to follow the daytime programming.
Notable artists making their Falcon Ridge Folk Festival debuts this year include the Grammy Award-winning The Klezmatics and singer-songwriter & humorist Loudon Wainwright III. Among the more than 40 other artists and acts slated to showcase their talents are Acoustic Nomads, Bog Hollow, The Deb Callahan Band, The Empty Bottle Ramblers, Gaslight Tinkers, Joe Jencks, The Kennedys, Lucy Kaplansky, Rod MacDonald, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Sam Robbins, The Russet Trio, Ryanhood, the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, The Storycrafters, David Jacobs-Strain and Bob Beach, Tony Trischka’s Earl Jam, and more. The Falcon Ridge House Band will feature Gina Forsyth, Radoslav Lporkovic and Nick Defala. Mainstage performances extend until 11 p.m. or so on Friday and Saturday nights, while Sunday’s musical festivities wrap up at 6 p.m. For those camping on the fairgrounds, there will be some late-night musical revelry featuring an array of informal jams, unplugged artist showcases and song circles that help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience.
For many years, AcousticMusicScene.com’s Michael Kornfeld arranged and hosted pre-arranged song swaps and open song circles under a big white canopy tent. Following an extended hiatus, he and AcousticMusicScene.com will do so again this summer in partnership with Tribes Hill, an organization uniting musicians and their patrons in New York’s Lower Hudson Valley.
Prior to the start of the actual festival, the aforementioned Pre-Fest Tastings & Farmers Market will take place on Thursday afternoon, July 24, while a Thursday Night Music Stage will be hosted by Scotten Jones (a co-founder of the Lounge Stage that hosted live music on Thursdays for many years) and singer-songwriter Aaron Nathans beginning at 4 p.m. Artists slated to appear include Craig Bickhardt, Frank Critelli, Karen Dahlstrom, Kala Farnham, Serenity Fisher, Lara Herscovitch & the Highway Philosophers, Bernice Lewis, Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt, Halley Neal, Jessica Smucker, and Avi Wisnia
Three-day festival tickets are $250 with camping or $175 without camping. Single -day tickets without camping also are available for $65. All three-day tickets include Pre-Fest Thursday admission, while tickets for Pre-Fest Thursday also can be purchased for $20 at the gate. Children 12 and under will be admitted free, while tickets are heavily discounted for teens. The campgrounds will open by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23. There is free parking on-site. Festival attendees are advised to bring and use their own chairs and blankets. More information on the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival can be found at falconridgefolk.com.
