Geneva Folk Festival packs Island Park
Mary and Cristian Pastorello sat under a tree Sunday in Geneva’s Island Park with their 8-month-old daughter. As the sounds of folk music drifted around them, their 3-year-old daughter laughed with other children reaching for massive bubbles made by Ben the Bubble Man.
At the 35th Annual Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling Festival, the Pastorellos enjoyed the latest addition to their list of reasons why they love Geneva — the town to which they just moved a couple of weeks ago.
“Neither of us is into folk music,” Mary Pastorello said. “But I guess I could get into folk music, it’s so tranquil and beautiful here.”
The festival regularly draws close to 10,000 people during the course of the two-day event, held annually on the Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend. It is considered the largest folk festival in the state, with eight stages offering performances and workshops from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Sunday’s entertainment continued with a barn dance and ghost stories on the main stage until 10 p.m.
Joe Samojedny, of Palatine, played with the Common Taters during the barn dance Sunday night. Earlier in the day he sat next to the Fox River, playing his fiddle with a few other musicians as Lisa Ornstein, of Chicago, practiced her Appalachian flat foot clogging.
Samojedny has played for decades and spent time traveling throughout Illinois and the region learning about the history of folk music and the traditional tunes passed down from generation to generation in the Midwest. He said the folk music festival in Geneva is a nice time to get everyone from the suburbs together to play.
“It adds a different perspective on cultural diversity,” Samojedny said.
Besides 30-minute acts on the main stage, the festival included vendors selling CDs, jewelry, bumper stickers and food. Kids’ activities complemented the bubble man — the one who enthralled the Pastorellos. Groups of families and friends spread throughout the park, setting up blankets for picnics or claiming their space with foldout chairs.
The festival runs on donations by attendees. Juel Ulven, the festival founder and director, said the recommended donation is $15 for adults and $10 for teens and senior citizens but people should feel free to give what they can — when they first walk in or after they’ve had a chance to enjoy the festival.
“We like folks to come out and wander,” Ulven said.