May 7, 8, 9 Sonoma County Folk Festival, Sebastopol. Dance, workshops, children's events and a great line-up of concerts. Information (707) 838 4857
May 15 Caswell Carnahan, Lark in the Morning Free Festival, The Cannery, San Francisco. E-mail: dcarn@well.com
May 16 Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area, Paramount Ranch near Agoura, Old-time and bluegrass music. (818) 382-4819
May 21-May 23 May Swing 'n' Hey Dance Weekend, Felton Community Hall, 6191 Hwy. 9, Felton, CA; information (831) 458-1340, E-mail: rumbaok@juno.com; Web site: www.nuthouse.com/contra/
May 27-May 31 Strawberry Spring Music Festival, Camp Mather, Yosemite, CA; Strawberry Music, P.O. Box 565, Sonora, CA 95370; phone (209) 533-0191; Web site: www.strawberrymusic.com
June 4-June 6 Sacred Harp Group Singing Trip to Holly Springs, Georgia. Information: Carolyn Deacy, 1024 Chenery Street, San Francisco, CA 94131; (415) 585-4773. Web site: http://fasola.org
June 5 Guinness Fleadh (pronounced "flah"); broadly defined Irish music: Polo Fields, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Tickets by Ticketmaster, (415) 421-TIXS.
June 11-June 18 Scandia Camp Mendocino, Scandinavian music and dance. Information: Nancy Linscott, 53 Presidio Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941, (415) 383-1014, nancy-linscott@compuserve.com; Roo Lester, (630) 920-0159 (Central time), DancingRoo@aol.com, http://members.aol.com/dancingroo/
June 13 Strawberry Festival-Beacon NY, rock music, folk, latino, young peoples' music. Fundraiser for environmental project. (914) 297-1181; E-mail dansea@bestweb.net
June 17-June 20 Annual Father's Day Weekend Bluegrass Festival, Nevada County Fairgrounds, Grass Valley, California. Information phone (209) 293-1559, FAX (209) 293-1220; E-mail: cbawpn@volcano.net
June 17-June 20 Telluride Bluegrass, Telluride, Colorado. Planet Bluegrass, 500 Main Street, Lyons, CO 80540; Phone (303) 449-6007; FAX (303) 823-0849; E-mail: planet@bluegrass.com
June 18-June 20 Huck Finn's 23rd Country and Bluegrass Jubilee, Mojave Narrows Regional Park, Victorville, CA. Phone (909) 780-8810, Web site: http://huckfinn.com
June 19-June 20 Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, Croton Point Park, NY
June 21-June 25 fiddlekids day-camp summer camp for children ages 7-13, Prospect Sierra School, Tapscott Campus, El Cerrito. For a brochure or more information, please call Bobbi Nikles at (510) 235-0370 or E-mail: bobbinik@aol.com
June 21-June 27 French & Breton Music and Dance Week; for info, see: http://www.goodthyme.com/camp/camp.html
June 25-June 27 Old Songs Festival, Altamont Fairgrounds, Altamont, New York. P.O. Box 399, Guilderland, NY 12084; (518) 765-2815; E-mail: oldsongs@crisny.org; Web site: www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/oldsongs
June 26-July 4 Mendocino Balkan music and dance workshops. East European Folklife Center, P.O. Box 12488, Berkeley, CA 94712-3488; phone and fax (510) 549-2124, E-mail: office@eefc.org Web site: www.eefc.org
June 27-July 4 Centrum's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes Workshops, Port Townsend, WA. Registration must be complete before May 27. Information: Centrum, P.O. Box 1158, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0958; phone (360) 385-3102, FAX (360) 385-2470, Web site www.centrum.org
July 3-July 10 Family Week at Alta Sierra Camp near Kings Canyon Natl. Park, BACDS c/o Emily Flouton, 2049 Vista Lane, Petaluma, CA 94954; E-mail emjer@netdex.com; Web site: www.bacds.org
July 4-July 31 The Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College, P.O. Box 9000, Asheville, NC 28815-9000. E-mail: gathering@warren-wilson.edu Web site: www.swangathering.org
July 10 Ninth Annual Alameda County Fair Fiddling Contest, Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton, CA. Register by June 21. Information: Alameda County Fair, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton, CA 94566. Phone (925) 426-7612.
July 10-July 17 Mendocino English Dance Week, BACDS c/o Patsy Bolt, 3234 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, CA 94306-2944; E-mail pbolt@earthlink.net; Web site www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/~winston/eweek
July 10 through September 4, various dates, Summer Dance and Music Camps, 13 camps at three campsites. Country Dance and Song Society, P.O. Box 338, Haydenville, MA 01039-0338. E-mail: camp@cdss.org Web site: www.cdss.org
July 11-July 15 Fiddles of the World, International Conference and Reunion for Traditional Fiddlers, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Web site: www2.fiddlesoftheworld.com/
July 11-July 17 California Coast Music Camp, CCMC, P.O. Box 936, El Granada, CA 94018-0936, (650) 306-0399. Web site: www.musiccamp.org
July 11-July 17 Catskills Irish Arts Week-workshops in folk music, dance,song, language and history; concerts; sessions and ceilis. P.O. Box 320, East Durham, NY 12423; (518) 634-2286, FAX (518)634-2058 E-mail: irish@francomm.com; Web site: www.east-durham.org
July 11-July 18 Sierra Swing Dance Camp: Contradance, Square Dance, Swing Dance Week; for info, mail BACDS c/o Patti Smolian, 1319-A Contra Costa Drive, El Cerrito, CA 94530; Web site: http://www.fussell.org/bacds/sierraswing.htm
July 16, 17, 18 Humboldt Folklife Festival at City of Blue Lake. Food, story telling, lots of workshops, crafts, fiddle contest, dancing, fine concerts. Info (707) 822-8462 or (707) 822-6264. To volunteer, phone Cat Koshkin at (707) 822-2888 or E-mail humcat@humboldt1.com.
July 16-July 18 Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Jericho Beach Park, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Web site: www.thefestival.bc.ca/index.html
English Melodeon-A new video by John Kirkpatrick is available from Mrs. Casey Records, P.O. Box 296, Aylesbury, Bucks, England HP 19 3TL UK. Phone and fax 011 44 0 1296 392300; Email mcm@mrscasey.co.uk
Autoharp classes at Cal State Hayward; instructor, Evo Bluestein. June 28 Beginning Autoharp (it really means beginner; harps available for borrow or purchase). June 29 Intermediate Autoharp (don't be scared; it just means you have taken the first class or you are not a complete beginner). To register: (510) 885-3605; questions for Evo: (559) 297-8966 or E-mail: evob@csufresno.edu
Dance classes at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, (510) 525-5054, www.ashkenaz.com
The festival will be held on the Soka University Campus in Calabasas the weekend of June 26 -27, 1999. It is California's premier autoharp event and.is sponsored by the California Traditional Music Society and. This is an outstanding traditional folk music festival featuring more than 260 great workshops, and six hours of autoharp instruction each day. Teachers include Steven Young, Les Gustafson-Zook and Bonnie Phipps. Frank Javorsek of the Blue Ridge Pickin' Parlor will provide a few loaner autoharps for the New Players Workshop. You can also purchase autoharps at the festival. Each night there are concerts and great outdoor contra dances.
Soka University has a large, beautifully landscaped campus. Almost all workshops are held outdoors. In past years, the weather has been sunny and hot. The festival is entirely kid-friendly, and there is plenty of open space for playing in the sun. Workshops for children are scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on both days.
There's a cheap, clean motel close by (Good Nite Inn, 818/880-6000) and a good Jewish deli in the mall nearby. You can also camp on the festival grounds. For more information contact California Traditional Music Society, 4401 Trancas Place, Tarzana, CA 91356-5399; 818/342-7664; http://www.signif.com/ctms.
Also, flyers are available at the Folk Club, 885 Clayton Street.
The 7th annual festival will be held on June 4, 5 and 6 in Boonville at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds. On Saturday and Sunday, the main stage will feature an assortment of acoustic performance, from Traditional and contemporary folk and bluegrass, to Celtic and Cajun. Saturday night there will be a swing dance and Sunday morning a gospel program.
Away from the main stage, there will be workshops with performers, open mikes, and plenty of opportunity for jamming. A crafts fair, activities for kids, and some folk dancing will round out the weekend. Food and drinks will be sold on site, and camping is offered on the fairgrounds, with hot showers and hook-ups.
In the unlikely event of rain, the festival will be moved inside.
Advance tickets: $40 for the weekend with camping, $30 without. Single day and half day tickets are available also. Call (707)895-3439.
Information: Wild Iris Productions, P.O. Box 262, Philo, CA 95466, (707) 895-3439, Web site http://www.boont.com/wildiris/
WANTED: Craft vendors for the 7th Annual Wild Iris Folk Festival, June 5 and 6, in Boonville, CA. Booth fee includes (and is the same price as) two festival passes. For applications, call Rainbow at (707) 895-2339, or write Wild Iris Productions, Box 262, Philo, CA 95466.