Folk Fest, a backyard festival that began in Columbus, is returning to Athens for its third — and possibly final — year.
For the last two years, backyard music and a relaxed atmosphere have been constants with Folk Fest, but this year could be the end.
Haden DeRoberts, a senior studying event planning and nonprofit management, said it is tentatively the last year of Folk Fest because he is graduating.
“It’ll be emotional to stop doing it, but it’s certainly not the end all for creative endeavors for me,” DeRoberts said. “I do other live music stuff. Laying Folk Fest to rest is another step toward other things I want to pursue. It’s going to be hard, but we’ll see.”
This year’s fest is taking place at 28 Smith St. and includes 18 acts, both local and regional, on two stages. Music starts at 1 p.m. and the last act is slotted for 11 p.m.
Folk Fest began on the back porch of DeRoberts’ home in Columbus, Ohio, when he was a junior in high school. Since then, he said, the event has grown every year.
“Way back in the first couple, we didn’t even have set times. It was just people would come up and play,” he said. “Since then, it’s gotten a little more structured each year, but still there is a relative loose form to it. We have set times, but it’s pretty nonchalant still.”
DeRoberts said part of Folk Fest is about giving back. During his freshman year at Ohio University, DeRoberts was diagnosed with leukemia. Now, the proceeds of the event benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Bone marrow donor registration can also be done at the event, Haden said, because bone marrow is how most blood forms of cancer are treated. DeRoberts said he received a bone marrow transplant that saved his life.
“I’ve never been someone to look at it as a downer,” DeRoberts said. “Obviously it was a bummer of an experience, but I don’t like to look at it with a totally negative perspective considering I’m here, I’m alive and happy and I’m healthy. I guess I’m celebrating that through Folk Fest.”
Additionally, 20 percent of the overall proceeds will go to Adyn’s Dream, a local foundation for a 10-year-old girl in Athens who is living with spinal muscular atrophy.
Despite the name, DeRoberts said Folk Fest is more than just folk music. A lot of the music is folk and Americana, he said, but there is also going to be a two-piece punk band and some rock ‘n’ roll acts playing.
“Athens has a really amazing music scene, but I think it’s a little fragmented and a lot of the times it can feel sort of exclusive at times,” he said. “This even really dissolves that. There are a lot of social demographics that are there in one place.”
Folk Fest had a GoFundMe page this year, which resulted in raising nearly $1,200.
DeRoberts said the money puts less stress on him financially, and also could double or triple the amount the festival will raise for charity.
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Haden said the group is taking precautions to the have the event run as smoothly as possible.
Last year, Jamie Moriarty said the only problem was having the cops shut down the fest at 1 a.m. because of noise.
“Some older guy, who actually came by our house the next day apologizing about calling the cops, said he was trying to get to sleep and it was pretty late,” Moriarty, a senior studying criminology, said. “He said he came over earlier in the day and was enjoying the festival.”
Moriarty is a member of Near Hills, a vocally driven folk group, and lives at the house where the festival is hosted. Playing outside feels a little more spontaneous, he said, but it also is “invigorating.”
Because so many bands wanted to be a part of the fest, DeRoberts said Folk Fest will have a pre-show Friday night at 52 Franklin St. Five acts will play in the living room.
Jamie Hankins, an OU alumnus and former roommate of DeRoberts, said he helped DeRoberts with the festival whenever he could, but it was entirely DeRoberts’ operation.
“He’s doing a bachelor’s specialized studies where you design your own major,” Hankins said. “He is kind of majoring in Folk Fest so this is a big passion for him.”
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