Takoma Park Folk Festival

Perform at the Festival
and Show your Stuff!

You can apply to perform at the festival by sending promotional material to the Program Committee by April 15.

The TPFF has eight stages of traditional and orginal folk music and dance featuring many talented artists. Since the Festival originated as a community celebration, most of the performers booked are from the greater metropolitan area. While there have been occasional guest artists from outside the area (see below), celebrating LOCAL artists is our focus.

Performing artists donate their time and talent to the Festival; TPFF does not compensate the performers other than a festive meal. Even without a paycheck, however, there are a number of valuable benefits to being a TPFF performer:

You will have an enthusiastic audience and extensive area-wide publicity.
You may sell your recordings from the stage or at the House of Musical Traditions booth, and promote future gigs.
You will be listed (with your booking information) in the Festival’s program guide and on this website, so performers will get referrals long after the final chorus has been sung.
And although performers do not receive compensation from the festival, they do get a free lunch!

Remember, because of the local nature of the Festival, we cannot book artists from other countries or from states other than Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia. (However, we occasionally do have a special guest artist from elsewhere.)

To apply to perform...

To apply to perform at the Festival, send the following materials to the Program Co-Chair between January and March (If you're not sure you're eligible, please call before sending material.):

CD or audio tape of your work
Any press or publicity materials about you or your group

Send these materials to:

Catherine Chapman
Co-Chair,
TPFF Program Committee
730 Easley Street
Silver Spring, MD 20910-4526
phone: 301-565-0729
music@tpff.org

During our 27 years, a few of our celebrity performers have been Pete Seeger, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Earl Robinson, Root Boy Slim, Tom Paxton, Celtic Thunder, Hazel Dickens, Oscar Brand, Joe Glazer, Ron Holloway, Magpie, and Kim and Reggie Harris.

Some of the past TPFF performers and groups who live in Takoma Park and Silver Spring or have Takoma Park roots include (and e-mail us if we have left you out):

Abby Bardi, Al Petteway and Amy White, Andrea Hoag, Arte Flamenco, Lu Bango, Big Village, Bill Jenkins, Blue Moon Cowgirls, Rachel & Henry Cross, Bruce Hutton, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Ceoltoiri, Celtic Thunder, Charlie Baum, Charlie Pilzer, DC Motors, Double Decker String Band, Doug Mishkin, Eleanor Ellis, Fabrangen Fiddlers, Foggy Bottom Morris Men, Folkworks, Footloose Cloggers, Fire & Earth, Frank Cassel, Franklin Taggert, Hagos Alemayehu, Hambone Sweets, Irish Fire, Ironweed, Itzqueye, Jesse Palidofsky, Jesse Winch, Joe Hickerson, Karen Ashbrook, Kathie Mack, Kathy Westra, King David's Harp, Klezmos, Lifeline, Lisa Moscatiello, Lisa Null, Liz Lerman Community Dancers, Loretta Kelley, Lou Shapiro, Magpie, Mary Sue Twohy, Michael Schechtman, Moondi Klein, Mountain Fever, Peter Jones, Rest Area, Rira, Rock Creek Morris Women, Rodeo Motel, Roustabout, Rudy Arredondo, Ruthie and the Wranglers, Sidekicks, Silk Road Dance Co., Sodabread, Squeeze Bayou, Takoma Mandoleers, Tappers With Attitude, Terry Mulligan, Somapa Thai Dance Company, The New St. George, Thealella, Tom Prasada-Rao, Turkeys on the Run Cloggers, Rick & Audrey, Tinsmith, and Franklin Taggart.

Click here to see the list of performers from last year.

Perform at the Festival and Show your Stuff!

Perform at the Festival
and Show your Stuff!