The Lowell Folk Festival just expanded one of the most globe-spanning lineups in American music. The free festival returns to downtown Lowell, Massachusetts from July 24-26 for its 39th edition, and the newly announced performers pull traditional music from Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and right across North America. It’s a stunning sweep of living traditions, all landing in one city over three days.
The reach is remarkable. Alash carry on xöömei, the Tuvan throat-singing tradition from Central Asia, where a single voice produces several pitches at once, a low drone beneath shaped harmonic melodies. The Chankas of Peru perform the danza de las tijeras, an acrobatic Andean scissors dance recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. From Louisiana, “The Creole Cowboy” Geno Delafose brings irresistible dance-floor zydeco with French Rockin’ Boogie when he isn’t running his Double D Ranch in Eunice. Each act arrives with deep roots and serious command.
Bluegrass and jazz pedigree run through the bill too. Authentic Unlimited carries the legacy of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, founded by Eli Johnston, Stephen Burwell, and Jerry Cole, with three-time IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year Jesse Brock and rising guitarist Colton Baker. The group already holds a Grammy nomination and three consecutive IBMA Vocal Group of the Year awards. Catherine Russell, daughter of Louis Armstrong’s longtime musical director Luis Russell, has become one of today’s most captivating interpreters of the Great American Songbook after singing on more than 200 albums with David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, and others.
The depth keeps going. Boston-based Kunal Gunjal and Amit Kavthekar pair the hundred-stringed santoor with tabla in a two-decade Indian classical partnership rooted in the lineage of Zakir Hussain and Alla Rakha. Michela Musolino & Rosa Tatuata revive the outdoor folk songs of Sicily and southern Italy. The Eastern Sound Orchestra has played high-energy East Coast Polish polka for more than 50 years, while the Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers deliver soaring unaccompanied gospel harmony. It’s a thrilling, genuinely joyful spread of sound and movement.
The festival roots itself in place as well. The Wampanoag Nation Singers & Dancers, from the Cape Cod, Aquinnah, and Herring Pond regions of Massachusetts, share songs and dances tied to their environment and culture. The Middlesex County Volunteer Fife & Drum Band, now 40 years strong, leads the opening parade Friday night, a fitting nod to America’s 250th birthday. Haitian dancer and drummer Peniel Guerrier brings the rhythm and spirit of Vodou, and Tres en Punto carries the romantic trío tradition of northern Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley from their home base in Mission, Texas.
These newly announced names join previously confirmed artists Elida Almeida, Melissa Carper & Emily Gimble, Dat Mighty 9, John Doyle & Friends, Fabiola Mendez, and Super Chikan & the Fighting Cocks. Beyond the four stages of music, the festival offers the Discovery Lowell Playspace for kids, Global Foods prepared by local cultural non-profits, and the Experience Lowell Marketplace of regional artists and craft makers. Lowell, celebrating its own Bicentennial this year, makes a fitting host for one of America’s great free summer gatherings.