Woody Guthrie Folk Festival turns 25: Here's what you need to know if you're going
OKEMAH — The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival turns silver this summer.
The festival affectionately known as WoodyFest will celebrate its 25th anniversary July 13-17 at multiple venues across the folk legend's hometown of Okemah.
The festival typically draws about 100 musicians and 3,000 music lovers to the small Okfuskee County town to celebrate the life, music and legacy of its namesake, whom many consider the most famous Oklahoman ever.
Here's what we know about this year's WoodyFest:
Why Okemah in the summer?
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912, in Okemah. He would have been 110 years old this year.
The festival annually takes place on and around his July 14 birthday in his hometown, which Woody once described as "one of the singingest, square dancingest, drinkingest, yellingest, preachingest, walkingest, talkingest, laughingest, cryingest, shootingest, fist fightingest, bleedingest, gamblingest, gun, club and razor carryingest of our ranch towns and farm towns because it blossomed out into one of our first Oil Boom Towns."
Guthrie died Oct. 3, 1967, at the Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens, New York, of Huntington’s Disease, a degenerative genetic neurological disorder. He was just 55 years old.
But in his relatively short life, he wrote prose, poetry and thousands of songs — including "This Land is Your Land," "Oklahoma Hills" and "Pastures of Plenty" — and influenced a wide range of musicians, from Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger to Lead Belly and his own son, Arlo Guthrie.
More than half a century after Guthrie's death, the iconic singer-songwriter's influence continues to grow: He has been cited as an inspiration by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Ani DiFranco, Joan Baez and many more.
Who will be playing WoodyFest 2022?
The Guthrie family will be well-represented at the 25th annual festival. The lineup features Woody's grandchildren Annie Guthrie, Cathy Guthrie, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Cole Rotante, with the latter performing with his band Cole Quest & the City Pickers. Guthrie’s great-grandchildren Krishna Guthrie and Serena Guthrie are scheduled to perform, too.
Americana singer-songwriter and storyteller Ellis Paul, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Tom Paxton, longtime Guthrie student and collaborator Joel Rafael and venerable Oklahoma band the Red Dirt Rangers are among the 2022 performers who also played the inaugural WoodyFest in 1998.
Additionally, this year's fest will include Aaron Lee Tasjan, Brennen Leigh, David Amram, Jaimee Harris, James McMurtry, Branjae, Joe Purdy, Monica Taylor, Jacob Tovar and more among its 60-plus musical performances.
WoodyFest opens annually with a special Wednesday night performance, and this year's opener on July 13 will be "A Tribute in Song," honoring the late Oklahoma musicians Bob Childers and Jimmy LaFave, who played integral roles in the festival’s first decades.
What else can people expect from WoodyFest?
Along with live music, WoodyFest annually includes songwriting workshops, readings from the Woody Guthrie Poets and fundraising events for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America.
Educational panels and events planned for this year include "Folk Collusion" with Tim Easton, "Folk American Roots Hall of Fame: Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present & Nurturing the Future" with Deana McCloud and "Pie in the Sky: The Songs of Joe Hill" with Bucky Halker.
When do tickets go on sale?
Tickets to WoodyFest 2022 go on sale May 1. The full schedule and list of artists are expected to be announced soon. For tickets and information, go to https://www.woodyfest.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Woody Guthrie Folk Festival celebrates 25 years in Oklahoma
