The Boston Folk Festival

What a day!!! The UMass Boston campus is calling it the largest single public event in which the university has taken part. Campus police counted cars in parking lots and passengers on busses and estimate 6,000 to 7,000 people attended.

Crowds were standing room only at the various indoor stages! By early afternoon, the main stage was crowded and more people arrived late afternoon and into early evening.

The harbor cruises were a great success with Chris Pahud and Phil Kissinger leading the sea chanteys. The first trip had about 80 people on it. By the last trip they had 110 and were afraid they were going to have to turn people away. Luckily they didn't have to.

One of the most colorful and loud areas (even if it wasn't exactly musical) was the children's area. More than 400 children visited the area, where they could color, try out instruments and do chalk drawingson the outside plaza. Kids, once they arrived there did not want to leave.

Parents who did manage to drag their kids away to hear some music, often returned at the urging of their children. That's how popular it was. No word yet from the university about the chalk drawings, so we hope we can do it again next year.

Crowds were double what the BFF executive committee was expecting. Post festival Boston Herald press called BFF "the folk event of the year". The Mass Media, the UMass Boston student paper, carried a full color two page spread about the festival.

The following performers appeared at the 1999 Boston Folk Festival:

An Cre
The Barra MacNeils
Ibrahima Camara
Capoeira Camara
Dee Carstensen
Lui Collins
Michael Cooney
Daragee Drum Ensemble
Jeff Davis
Stacey Earle
Eddie From Ohio
Kat Eggleston
Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
Fresh Blend
Vanida Gail
Jack Hardy Band
Inca Son
The Eileen Ivers Band
The Kennedys
Louis Killen
Bertrand Laurence & The Jellyrollers
Shirley Lewis
Llan de Cubel
Kate MacLeod
Murray MacLeod
Lynn Miles
Katy Moffatt
Alistair Moock
Mustard's Retreat
Babatunde Olatunji (pictured up top)
Mark Purcell
Chris Pahud & Phil Kissinger
Barbara Phaneuf
Kelly Joe Phelps
Mark Purcell
Rumbafrica
Ramudi Sapera and Party
Richard Shindell
Silver Leaf Gospel Singers
Sol y Canto Trio
David Surette & Susie Burke
Art Tebbetts
Cheryl Wheeler

One month later on October 24, the Boston Folk Festival presented a Coffeehouse Connection at the Boston Public Library with great performances by: Late Bloomers, Annie Wenz, Jenny Avila, Tony Toledo, Eric Gerber, Barbara Phaneuf, Francis Dougherty, Folk Medicine (pictured above), Eric Schwartz, Robbie O'Connell, Gail Rundlett, Jeannie Wolf-Gagne, John Flynn, Curt Bessette and Chris Pahud and Phil Kissinger. Local coffeehouses sponsored each performer.

The event was well-attended and a pleasant Sunday afternoon for all. Channel 56 covered it in a story on the 10 O'clock news called "Tunes among the Tomes."