Aussie quintet to perform at Seldovia Folk Festival
The first Seldovia Folk Fes-tival is being billed as "like playing for friends around a kitchen table, only a little bigger."
Sponsored by the Seldovia Arts Council, the festival is scheduled for July 18-21.
The festival kicks off July 18 with a concert and dance featuring Fruit, a band from Australia. The female-led quintent will play at the Susan B. English School commons. The concert starts at 8 p.m.
The group's music is best de-scribed as acoustic pop.
Fruit's eclectic set also touches funk, blues, rock and groove. The group is known for the strength of its vocals and the use of hard-hitting harmony. Two electric guitars, one-woman woodwinds and drums join original vocals about hope, discovery and self-expression.
Tickets to this event are available in advance from Seldovia retailers for $12 for adults and $10 for children. Tickets also may be purchased at the door for $17 for adults and $15 for children.
July 19, the festival continues at 8 p.m. with a contra dance workshop and dance. My Home Upholstery Strang Band will provide a mix of Irish and English tunes ideal for contra, square and country dancing. Bill and Betty Connors from Fairbanks will call, and members of The Dancing Bears, a folk dance group, will give contra dance lessons.
On the evening of July 20, My Home Upholstery Strang Band provides the core for an open stage concert, where all performers and dancers are welcome. The event begins at 8 p.m.
Performers who like an intimate small-town setting are urged to come and share their songs during the festival, said arts council programming chair and festival organizer Susan Mumma.
"We are not trying to re-create the Juneau Folk Festival here, nor the Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival, but rather we wish to provide an informal and friendly venue where musicians can get together and share songs with one another and with the audience," she said.
"Seldovia is a wonderful community for musicians. Impromptu performances and jam sessions can occur most anywhere: the old boardwalk, a street-side bench or a sunny deck overlooking the harbor."
Expected guest performers include Seldovia's noted Sea Otter Dancers, a group of elementary and secondary school girls who perform both traditional Native Alaska and Celtic-type dances in costume.
The night of July 21 wraps up the festival, with a final contra dance in the village at 8 p.m. and then a bonfire on the Outside Beach at midnight.
For the Thursday through Saturday events, the all-inclusive ticket price is $15. Individual events are $7 at the door. The July 18 Fruit concert is not included in that price.
Seldovia is served by two Homer-based airlines and one airline offering direct flights from Anchorage, as well as two daily tour boats, several water-taxis, and the state ferry M/V Tustemena. Hotel, bed-and-breakfast and camping accommodations are available in the community.
For more information on the festival or to inquire about performing, contact Mumma at (907) 234-7614 or via e-mail at rowing@ptialaska.net.
For information on getting to Seldovia or accommodations, visit www.Seldovia.com or call the Seldovia Chamber at (907) 234-7612.