
This year’s Ocrafolk Festival will feature a host of new performers for the 16th edition of this weekend of coastal and regional music June 5 to 7 on Ocracoke Island.
New performers this year include the Blue Eyed Bettys, Kaira Ba, Los Tarascos de Michoacan, Victor & Penny, and the Yes Team.
Presented by Ocracoke Alive, this event showcases music, storytelling, artisans and characters, and attracts thousands of visitors to the island.
The Ocrafolk Festival was rated as one of the top 15 island festivals in the world a few years ago by Coastal Living Magazine.
Returning to the stage will be festival hosts Molasses Creek, storyteller Donald Davis, Martin Garrish, Mipso, The Outliers, Donald Thompson Band, The Alberti Flea Circus, Paperhand Puppets, Craicdown, Jacob Johnson, The Green Grass Cloggers, Bob Zentz & Jeanne McDougal, John Golden, Louis Allen, Philip Howard, Capt. Rob Temple, Chainsaw Artist Clyde Jones, Jef the Mime, Ocrachicks, and more.
Juried artisans in and around the festival grounds will showcase fine arts and crafts in painting, sculpture, wood carving, jewelry, textiles and more, and food will be available by some of Ocracoke’s finest eateries.
The 2015 Ocrafolk Festival is also seeking individual and business sponsorships.
“Sponsors play a critical role in creating the weekend, funding about half of the event,” said, David Tweedie, festival director. “We love their passionate support, and we work to come up with fun rewards and ways to make them part of our family. Best of all, donors help ensure that this great event can happen for another year.”
The festival is financed with donations, grants, admission buttons, merchandise sales and fundraisers.
Interested contributors can find out more information on donation levels at www.ocracokealive.org, and can donate online or by mail. Although the festival accepts sponsors at any time, the printed press deadline for contributors is April 25.
Recipients of the Hyde County Chamber of Commerce Tourism award, Ocracoke Alive, Inc., is a private non-profit committed to enriching the Ocracoke Island community through the encouraging and sponsoring cultural, artistic, educational, and environmental activities including the production of plays, musicals, musical events, exhibits, schools, workshops and festivals.