The Ocrafolk Festival this weekend (June 5 to 7) will feature a host of new performers at the 16th edition of this weekend event. New performers this year include the Blue Eyed Bettys, Kaira Ba, Los Tarascos de Michoacan, Victor & Penny and the Yes Team.
The festival begins Friday evening with a fish fry, art auction and concert at the Community Center. Presented by Ocracoke Alive, this festival showcases music, storytelling, artisans and characters, and attracts thousands of visitors to the island. Saturday and Sunday’s events begin at 9 a.m. with about 30 acts from all over the state and beyond.
Returning to the stage will be festival host band 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 Ocrafolk Festival was rated as one of the top 15 island festivals in the world a few years ago by Coastal Living Magazine.
Molasses Creek has changed personnel. Kim France, hailing from Asheville and who plays the acoustic bass, joined the group following the departure of Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro.
“Kim’s a phenomenal acoustic bass player and a lot of fun to play with,” noted David Tweedie, the fiddler for the contemporary folk group that’s been a part of the island music scene for more than 20 years. “She brings a jazzy, world music flair on the bass.”
Along with France, joining Tweedie, Gary Mitchell and Gerald Hampton at the festival will be Sarah Osborne, who will play the claw hammer banjo.
The group will roll out its new album “Water Bound.”
Molasses Creek plays Thursdays in the summer and Wednesday nights with the Ocrafolk Opry, both at 8 p.m. in the Deepwater Theater on School Road.
For the festival schedule and more, visit www.ocracokealive.org.
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.
