The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

After a highly successful and much-anticipated folk festival in 2021, the Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) staff and board are looking ahead with excitement to bringing Americana roots music to Central Oregon for the 25th annual celebration.

Fifteen artists are confirmed so far to perform multiple sets over the three-day event, and plans are in the works to add many more before the lineup is complete. The confirmed artists include the indie folk duo The Milk Carton Kids, 2019 Encore Artist Le Vent du Nord, Rainbow Girls, The Accidentals, Fireside Collective, Jeffrey Foucault, JigJam, Caroline Spence, The Sweet Water Warblers, The Small Glories, Making Movies, James Hill & Anne Janelle, Seth Walker, O’Connor Lee, Beth Wood, and many more to be announced.

The Festival is also announcing plans for the 2022 Americana Song Academy, taking place again at its new location at House on Metolius in Camp Sherman September 26-29. The beautiful site was host to last year’s academy, with approximately 50 participants attending. Space is limited; teaching artists will be announced in early 2022. Registration fee is $700, which includes all meals, instruction, and camping.

This year introduces the inaugural Sisters Folk Festival Bluegrass Jam Camp, which will take place June 23-26, 2022 outdoors at the Sisters Art Works venue. The four-day program will focus on musicianship and collaboration through jamming together, learning songs, and performing on traditional bluegrass instruments (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and bass). Topics will include music theory, song arrangement, and lead and harmony singing.

The camp will be taught by members of the professional Colorado-based bluegrass band FY5, led by award-winning songwriter Mike Finders and bassist Erin Youngberg, plus guest instructor Eli West.

Campers will explore the role of instrumentation in a bluegrass format and enjoy opportunities to form bluegrass ensembles.

Students will learn collaboration and performance skills, culminating in a final concert by camp participants that will be open to the public.

The suggested registration fee is $395, but participants will be able to pay what they can afford in an effort to increase accessibility to arts education for all Central Oregonians, regardless of financial means.

Onsite camping is available for $50/person.

Registration for Bluegrass Jam Camp also opens on December 22 at 10 a.m.

As part of the Bluegrass Jam Camp experience, on Saturday, June 25, FY5 and Eli West will perform a free community concert at Fir Street Park in downtown Sisters. More details will be released as the event date draws closer.

Tickets for the 2022 Sisters Folk Festival will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Wednesday December 22 and are $200 for three-day, all-event passes ($85 for youth 17 and under). A limited number of single-day tickets will go on sale in August. Lodging options around Sisters can be found at the festival website “Where to Stay” link, and SFF plans to offer limited RV camping in town, which will go on sale later in the spring. Camping in town at Creekside Park opens Monday, January 3 at 8 a.m. PST, and can be reserved at the City of Sisters website: https://www.ci.sisters.or.us/creekside-campground.

For those wishing to volunteer for their ticket, a variety of volunteer shifts will open in June for setup, take-down, merchandise sales, patron check-in, bar, and more. Additional information on SFF’s programming, including tickets, lineup, and volunteering, is available at http://www.sistersfolkfestival.org.