Lowell Folk Festival

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Lowell Folk Festival

One of the largest FREE folk festivals in the country! SAVE THE DATES: JULY 24-26, 2026

05/29/2026

SAVE THE DATES: July 24th -26th. Ready for summer! It's coming up in just 8 weeks!

05/28/2026

Producing Partner Spotlight: Revolutionary Valley! Just north of Boston, the Revolutionary Valley brings together 21 communities that still hold onto the things that make a place feel like home. You see it in the pride of our neighborhoods, the mix of cultures and generations, the familiar rhythm of Main Streets and town centers, and the green spaces and trails that anchor daily life. This region carries its history openly, but it is defined just as much by the people who live, work, gather, and create here today.

Visitors come to the Revolutionary Valley for many reasons. Some want to walk through the places where the country’s earliest stories took shape. Others come for sports, festivals, dining, shopping, or time outdoors. But what surprises many is the feeling they experience once they’re here. It is a sense of steadiness. A sense of community. A sense that the values of welcome, diversity, and shared belonging still guide everyday life. In a world that feels increasingly unsettled, the Valley offers a chance to breathe and reconnect with what matters.

Our region is broad and varied. It includes historic towns like Concord and Lexington, the cultural energy of Lowell, the natural beauty of Lincoln and Carlisle, the shopping and dining of Burlington, and the many neighborhoods and small-town centers that make up the landscape in between. Each community has its own personality, yet all are connected by a shared spirit: a pride in who we are and a commitment to being a place where people feel invited in.

The Revolutionary Valley Regional Tourism Council, based in Lowell and designated by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, exists to share this region with visitors from across the state, the country, and the world. We promote the Valley not only as a destination, but as a community of places and people worth knowing. Whether someone comes for a day, a season, or a new beginning, we want them to feel the warmth and welcome that define our region.

The Revolutionary Valley is a place with roots, heart, and an open door. And we are proud to share it with you.

05/27/2026

All Ages. Welcome. Free. July 24th-26th

05/26/2026

Producing Partner Spotlight: At Lowell National Historical Park, visitors can experience the immigrant influence throughout the city’s ethnic neighborhoods; tour the Boott Cotton Mills Museum and Boardinghouse, the Suffolk Mill Turbine, and the Pawtucket Gatehouse; and enjoy boat tours through the historic industrial city’s locks and canals.

05/25/2026

Honoring all who served.
Grateful for your service and sacrifice.

05/22/2026

Time to clock out. We look forward to seeing everyone at the free music festival in July.

July 24-26

05/21/2026

Producing Partner Spotlight: The National Council for the Traditional Arts

National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the presentation and documentation of folk and traditional arts in the United States. Founded in 1933, it is the nation’s oldest producing and presenting organization with such a focus. Its programs celebrate and honor deeply rooted cultural expressions—music, dance, crafts, rituals and stories passed on through time in families, communities, and tribal, ethnic, regional and occupational groups. Traditional arts have proven to be a force for cultural cohesion and social understanding in the complex cultural communities of our nation. In the 21st century, this force will be essential to our democratic society. These are the vibrant, living cultural treasures of the American people and, as such, will play a central role in the future health of all American communities.

The NCTA continually strives to expand awareness and appreciation of the richness of America’s multicultural, living heritage through exciting, thoughtfully curated live programs that create dynamic cultural encounters between artists and the public. These programs celebrate what we have in common, not what separates us. They are healing and exhilarating experiences that promote a deeper understanding of America’s collective identity, antidotes to the messages of distrust and fear that bombard us daily. Stressing excellence and traditionality, NCTA presents the nation’s very finest traditional artists in festivals, tours, international cultural exchange, workshops, demonstrations and exhibitions, media productions, school programs, and other activities. It works in partnership with communities across America to establish new, sustainable traditional arts events that deliver lasting social, cultural and economic benefits. The NCTA champions the interests of folk and traditional artists and organizations in the arena of public policy.

05/20/2026

The View: Priceless. Lowell Folk Festival is free!
Donate to keep the party going for another 40 years and beyond.

05/19/2026

Producing Partner Spotlight: The Greater Lowell Community Foundation

The Greater Lowell Community Foundation has worked to improve quality of life in Greater Lowell since 1997 by connecting donors with local nonprofit organizations and community initiatives.

Their mission is to foster community growth and development through funding, leadership, and collaboration to transform lives throughout the region.

Through grants, scholarships, charitable giving, and community partnerships, they continue to support social, educational, economic, environmental, and cultural needs across Greater Lowell.

05/18/2026

Is the real headliner the food? It just might be! Get ready for the Lowell Folk Festival, returning July 24th-26th.

From home-cooked cultural comfort foods to the incredible music across the city, it's the best weekend of the summer.

- donation link in comments

05/13/2026

To all of our Folk Festival Family,

Yesterday, we learned that the Salisbury Folk Festival in Maryland, a sister festival born from the same National Folk Festival tradition as Lowell, will not continue this year.

It’s difficult news.

Events like ours do not disappear because people stop loving them. They disappear when the financial realities of producing large public events become harder to overcome.

That truth felt especially close to home last year when the Lowell Folk Festival faced the sudden loss of federal funding. In that moment, this community showed up. You donated. You volunteered. You invested in our shared story. You reminded us that the Lowell Folk Festival has lasted nearly 40 years because this community has believed that free access to music, culture, food, and shared public celebration matters.

Because of that support, we kept moving forward.

But the truth is simple: no free festival stays free by accident, and sustaining a free festival takes more than momentum. It takes commitment.

The challenges facing free public arts events have not gone away. Pandemic-era relief funding has ended. Costs remain high. Public investment in the arts continues to shrink in many places.

The Lowell Folk Festival is more than a weekend event. For nearly four decades, this festival has belonged to the community. It has introduced generations to new music, new traditions, incredible food, and the simple joy of gathering together in downtown Lowell for something extraordinary. We never want to imagine a world without it.

The Lowell Folk Festival is approaching its 40th anniversary in 2027. That is something worth celebrating, and something worth protecting.
If you believe the Lowell Folk Festival should be here for the next generation, we hope you’ll consider making a gift today.

A gift of $10 is a symbolic ticket to a festival that remains free for everyone. Larger gifts help us go even further.

Some things should stay free.
They stay free because people like you make that possible.

With gratitude,
Lee Viliesis
Lowell Folk Festival Director ( )

https://lowellfolkfestival.org/pages/donate

Address

Lowell, MA
01852

Website

http://www.lowellfolkfestival.org/

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