Despite the weather on Saturday, the Greenhouse’s 7th Annual North Country Folk Fest hosted musical groups, local vendors, a biergarten and more. Throughout the day, both students and locals browsed the student center for jewelry, cutting boards, clothing and other local goods. Meanwhile, a tent outside on the old Java quad covered a stage where eight folk artists and bands performed late into the night.
“Mostly, vendors have to do with some type of local living, low impact living or artisans, that type of folky vibe,” said Nick Filannino, a member of the Greenhouse. Many of the local vendors were involved with environmental education, such as Nature Up North and Divest SLU. Birdsfoot farm took the opportunity to advertise their community supported agriculture program. “It’s a family friendly event so typically we get a lot of people, but it was tough with the ice this year,” Filannino added.
Richard Hayes Philips, a local Canton folk artist, has played music for most his life and has performed at Folk Fest for the last three years. “I began playing six-stringed guitar and harmonica in 1970, mandolin in 1973, and kalimba in 1979,” Philips stated. Although the weather presented a challenge for many, Philips stayed optimistic, mentioning; “I seized the opportunity to sing and play one of my most challenging pieces ‘Ice Storm.’”
“I guess what I had really to sell was knowledge; a couple of classes that I was advertising and teaching,” said Len Mackey, a vendor at Saturday’s Folk Fest. Mackey described his table as one that offered primitive and ancient earth-based skills, presenting dear hides, arrows made from tree saplings, hand-carved bows, stone tools and more. “We don’t see that branch out into the community often, and so it’s nice for the school to invite the community in and share that space,” Mackey added.
Jack Carroll and Max Maurer, two out of the four musicians in the 4skinz, have played at Folk Fest for the last two years. “We did have a really good crowd, it was nice to see,” Carrol stated, also complimenting the last-minute accommodation of space heaters as well as the beirgarten. The group only had one complaint, stating that “twice, they refused to put our name on any of the advertising or t-shirts.”