Guthrie Folk Festival (redirected from Woody Guthrie Folk Festival)

Guthrie (Woody) Folk Festival

Week of July 14

Fans of folk icon Woody Guthrie (1912–1967) mark his legacy with an annual music festival in his birthplace of Okehmah, Okla. The event is held on the weekend nearest his birthday, July 14.
The festival, introduced in 1998, is a recently created tradition. For the inaugural festival Okemah was treated to performances by folk stars Billy Bragg and Guthrie's son, Arlo Guthrie, as well as to the dedication of a full-body bronze statue of the legend that stands along the town's main street.
Organizing the festival is the Woody Guthrie Coalition, which shares Guthrie's egalitarian vision to bring music to people by maintaining a free admission policy, even for folk music stars like Jackson Browne, Pete Seeger, and the Kingston Trio. Typically, the only concert that charges admission is for raising the festival's funds. This benefit show is usually held at the Crystal Theatre, a venue where Guthrie had performed as a child.
Many music fans stay until the end of the weekend for the final Sunday performance. This concert, called the Hoot for Huntington's, raises money to treat the disease that took Guthrie's life.

CONTACTS:
Woody Guthrie Folk Festival
Woody Guthrie Coalition, Inc.
P.O. Box 661
Okemah, OK 74859
479-466-7380
www.woodyguthrie.com/main2.htm

Celebration days:
2011: Jul 16; Jul 17
2012: Jul 14; Jul 15
2013: Jul 13; Jul 14
2014: Jul 12; Jul 13
2015: Jul 11; Jul 12