We’re endlessly charmed by the many organizations and schools that offer folk music classes, camps, and workshops. You can take a flat-picking class! Attend a dulcimer seminar! Work with top-tier instructors who will help you become versed- and immersed- in folk music. Some folk music workshops to sign up for in 2012:

Debut your sweet sounds at the Calgary Folk Music Festival Folk Boot Camp at NMC, which runs from July 24-26, 2012. Registration is already open and the cost is $150 per workshop, but you can see a great savings if you book a morning and afternoon workshop by phone at 403-233-0904- it’s just $250 for the day of workshops! You can also register online for single workshops. This year’s workshops include intensive songwriters’ workshops with Sam Baker and Mark Berube, guitar clinics with Luke Doucet and Donna Grantis, and a workshop on presenting your voice with acclaimed singer Shakura S’Aida. The National Music Centre is hosting the workshops and is located at 134 11 Ave SE in Calgary, Alta.

Beginning the first week of June and lasting throughout the year, the John C. Campbell Folk School offers more than 30 folk music classes. Attendees can take intensive classes ranging from two days to a week in length on subjects as diverse as autoharp, banjo, dulcimer, fiddle, and the musical saw. Prices vary but generally fall in the $300-$600 range. The John C. Campbell Folk School is located in Brasstown, North Carolina.

The Early Music and Folk Music Workshop Mountain Collegium 2012 is held at Western Carolina University in the hills of North Carolina, specifically, the lovely town of Cullowhee. Registrants begin checking in on June 24, 2012 and the classes run through June 30th. A wide variety of classes include folk, Appalachian, Celtic, and Renaissance music workshops; pennywhistles and hurdy-gurdys are mentioned! The registration fee is $15, tuition is $460 and to get the full experience, get single room and board for the week for $365 (linens are extra).

If you find yourself in central Pennsylvania in September, try to get to the Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering held September 7-9, 2012. The weekend of workshops includes a variety of classes for folk music enthusiasts. Prices haven’t been announced as of May, but 2011 rates were $90 for the weekend or $75 with early registration by August 1. Meals are extra and donations are encouraged. The workshops are held at Greenwood Furnace State Park.

Join other folk music enthusiasts for the Midland Folk Music Festival in Midland, Michigan from August 23-26, 2012. No details yet, and according to the website they’re still accepting workshop proposals in May.

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The East Coast, not to be outdone by the Deep South, has its own rich history of folk music festivals. These days, the festivals are family friendly, and offer more for visiting guests including workshops, open jams, and in some cases, on-site camping. Upcoming folk festivals in New York in 2012 include:

The Brooklyn Folk Festival celebrates folk music May 18-20, 2012. Find the festival on Facebook and on twitter @bklynfolkfest. The festival includes bands, a square-dance, film screenings, and workshops. Performers at the upcoming folk music festival include Blind Boy Paxton, East River String Band, Elizabeth Butters, M Shanghai String Band, Pat Conte and Joe Bellulovich, Peter Stampfel and The Ether Frolic Mob, Brett Ratliff and the Giant Rooster Sideshow, and many more.

The Great Hudson River Revival Clearwater Festival is one of the festivals to attend this year and will be held July 16 and 17, 2012 in Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, NY.  Follow the festival on Facebook. Performers at the 2012 folk festival include Ani Defranco, Martin Sexton, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Bela Fleck, Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band, Arlo Guthrie & The Guthrie Family, Dawes, Joan Osborne & The Holmes Brothers, and dozens more.

Join Rochester, NY residents as they celebrate the Corn Hill Arts Festival July 7-8, 2012. Performers in past years have included Liz Longley, The Dady Brothers, and The Grace Stumberg Band.

The Earth Day Concert: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie, happens April 22, 2012 at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Westchester, NY. Performers include Janis Ian, Tom Paxton, The Klezmatics, Tom Chapin, Toshi Reagon, David Amram, Lucy Kaplansky, Garland Jeffreys, and Cheryl Wheeler.

Find the Eisteddfod Festival on November 2-4, 2012 at the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa in Kerhonkson, NY. In addition to the festival, attendees can join workshops and informal jams during the celebration. Kerhonkson is in Ulster County and the website helps facilitate rideshare opportunities from NYC.

The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival will be held on July 27-29, 2012 at Dodds Farm, off Route 22 and north of Hillsdale, New York. Get updates by sending an e-mail to falcridge@aol.com. Performers for this year’s festival include Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Spuyten Duyvil, The Clayfoot Strutters, Giant Robot Dance, Rod MacDonald, Pesky J. Nixon, Holly Near, John Flynn, Brother Sun, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Peter, Paul & George, Storyhill, The Ivy Vine Players, Country Spice, Eddie from Ohio, The Storycrafters, Nerissa & Katrina Nields, Girlyman, John Francis, Todd Sheaffer, Tracy Grammer, and Eilen Jewell.

The 32nd annual Old Songs Festival celebrates folk music in a family-friendly atmosphere. Visit the Altamont Fairgrounds in Altamont, New York June 22-24, 2012 to join in the fun. Follow the festival on Facebook and on twitter @oldsongsfolk. The Old Songs Festival offers on-site camping at $20 a head. Performers at the upcoming folk festival include Peter & Mary Alice Amidon, Andrew and Noah Band, Patrick Ball, Dan Berggren, Archie Fisher, Bruce Hutton, and many, many more.

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Kentucky, home to many of the country’s best-and oldest- folk music festivals, continues to wave the folk banner in 2012. Sadly, many, many of the oldest and best (if not the largest) festivals have been cancelled. This year, the following folk festivals will go on in Kentucky:

The 39th annual Celebration of Traditional Music will be held October 18-21 in lovely Berea, Kentucky. Performers can send a biography and a music sample to:

Appalachian Center
CPO 2166
Berea College
Berea KY 40404

Passing through lovely Louisville (that’s pronounced Loo-vull, by the way) in July? Then you’ll want to attend the Forecastle Festival, held July 13-15 at Waterfront Park. You can connect with the festival that celebrates music, art, and activism on Facebook and on twitter. The lineup this year is astonishing, and includes Wilco, Andrew Bird, Neko Case, The Head and the Heart, Deer Tick, Justin Townes Earle, Wye Oak, Fruit Bats, Ben Sollee, James Vincent McMorrow, Cheyenne Mize, Cold Spring’s Daniel Martin Moore, and loads of indie/alt rock, psychedelic, electronic, and country musicians, too.

Join the crowd at the Fraley Festival of Traditional Music, formerly J.P. Fraley’s Mountain Music Gatherin’ September 5-8, 2012 at Carter Caves State Resort Park in Olive Hill, Kentucky. Olive Hill is just a hop and a skip up the road from Morehead.

Spend a relaxing weekend at the Great American Dulcimer Convention at the Pine Mountain State Resort Park in Pineville, KY. Pineville is down past Corbin, almost to the Tennessee border.

The Kentucky Music Weekend takes place July 27-30, 2012 at the Iroquois Ampitheater in Lousiville, KY.

The Morehead Old Time Music Festival will be held July 27-28, 2012. Performers include the Freight Hoppers on Friday night. Morehead is in Eastern Kentucky and the festival offers “primitive” camping to guests.

The 15th annual Pennington Folk Festival takes place June 1-2 in Princeton, Kentucky. The festival is named in honor of Eddie Pennington, who will be performing on Saturday. Performers also include Cheynne Mize, The Tim Lynch Band, Hymn for Her, the Alonzo Pennington Band, and the Malibu Combo Reunion.

Stop by Seedtime on the Cumberland June 7-9 in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Whitesburg is located in Southeast KY, or “way-y-y past Crittenden,” as they say in Cincinnati. Performers include Heather Berry and Tony Mabe and the Tommy Webb Band.

 

The date and the location of the Official Kentucky State Old-Time Fiddlers Contest is still up in the air as of March 2012. Here’s hoping they can pull it together!

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West Virginia (or “Virginnie” for locals) has a rich history of folk music festivals. A few to consider as you plan your travels this year:

The Appalachian String Band Festival celebrates its 23rd anniversary August 1-5, 2012. The festival is held at Camp Washington-Carver in Clifftop, West Virginia. Follow the festival on Facebook for updates.

You can find the Augusta Festival in Augusta, WV August 10-12, 2012.

The 8th annual Freshwater Folk Festival takes place October 6th in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Not quite as splashy as the state folk festival, you can join in the fun at Pattyfest on June 2, 2012 in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The 37th annual Vandalia Gathering will be held Memorial Day weekend at the Capitol Complex in Charleston, West Virginia.

The 62nd West Virginia State Folk Festival celebrates music, heritage, and Appalachian culture. Visit the festival from June 21-24, 2012 in Glenville, West Virginia. Glenville is located about an hour and a half from Morgantown and an hour and forty-five minutes from Charleston.

Several folk festivals from past years, especially the smaller ones, seem to be out of commission this year. We’ll update you on more upcoming folk festivals in WV as we learn about them. If you have one to add, please email us at info@folk-festivals.com.

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Billboard’s top folk albums for the week of March 24, 2012:

10. New Multitudes Jay Farrar/Will Johnson/Anders Parker/Yim Yames

9. The Head and the Heart The Head and the Heart

8. Leaving Eden Carolina Chocolate Drops

7. Come Back as Rain Good Old War

6. Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables Todd Snider

5. Old Ideas Leonard Cohen

4. Voice of Ages The Chieftans

3. Barton Hollow The Civil Wars

2. Sigh No More Mumford & Sons

1. Break it Yourself Andrew Bird

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