When most people hear the phrase "folk festival," they think of idealistic and liberal white people with acoustic guitars. The Midwest Folk Festival at Bishop Hill this weekend will have a few of those, but it's more of a folklore festival, highlighting ethnic and traditional arts.
So in addition to those acoustic guitars, the Midwest Folk Festival will feature Latin American music, the santur (the Iranian hammered dulcimer), the pipa (a Chinese stringed instrument), and the Irish fiddle. And its conception of "American" music is broad as well, with Delta blues, Cajun, and Creole styles.
The festival is modeled after the annual two-week Smithsonian Folklife Festival, said Tamara Kubacki, director of ethnic- and folk-arts programs at the Illinois Arts Council.
The free Bishop Hill event will be headlined by David Honeyboy Edwards (the 91-year-old blues legend who regularly performed with Robert Johnson) and fiddler Liz Carroll. Both artists have won National Heritage Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. (See sidebar for the full main-stage lineup.)
Mike Wendel of the Bishop Hill Heritage Association said that 10 different ethnic groups will be represented at the festival. The event also features narrative and demonstration stages, traditional arts and crafts, and a children's area. "It gives the audience an opportunity to interact with artists," Wendel said.
The rotating festival is now in its sixth year and was originally a collaboration among the statewide arts agencies of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Illinois took Minnesota's place when the latter lost its folk-arts position in 2004. This will be the event's first time in Illinois.
Even though it has a national and international flavor - with traditional Irish, Iranian, and Chinese music - Kubacki said the premise is to feature artists who live in the Midwest. All but three of the performers at this year's event live in Illinois, she said.
The Midwest Folk Festival will cost roughly $50,000 this year, Kubacki said, and she hopes to draw 2,000 patrons. In previous years, the event has had attendance between 1,500 and 5,000 people.
For more information on the festival, visit (http://www.bishophill.com/events.php).
Midwest Folk Festival Main-Stage Schedule
Saturday, August 5
10:15 a.m.: Nelson & Paola Sosa, Latin American music
11 a.m.: Chris Vallillo, folk music
noon: Bill Robinson & Friends, hammered dulcimer
1 p.m.: Nelson & Paola Sosa, Latin American music
2 p.m.: Kiu Haghighi & Tooraj Moshref-Zadeh, santur and percussion
3 p.m.: Chris Vallillo
4 p.m.: Bill Robinson & Friends
5 p.m.: Liz Carroll & Jim DeWan, Irish fiddling
6 p.m.: Honeyboy Edwards & Rick Sherry, blues
Sunday, August 6
10:15 a.m.: Doug & Bonnie Miller, folk music
11 a.m.: Dennis Stroughmatt & Creole Stomp, Cajun music
noon: Kiu Haghighi & Tooraj Moshref-Zadeh
1 p.m.: Yang Wei, pipa
2 p.m.: Doug & Bonnie Miller
3 p.m.: Dennis Stroughmatt & Creole Stomp
