A new festival is coming to town and it is safe to say that with 19 live concert events planned, there may just be a little folk for everyone. The Central Coast Folk Festival, presented by the Boutique Hotel Collection, will make its debut Jan. 15 to 18 at five locations around the county: The Cliffs Resort, Apple Farm Inn, The Inn at Morro Bay, SeaVenture Resort and Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort. There will be classic Americana cuisine and live music with genres spanning contemporary and traditional folk, swing, bluegrass and more. The best part: nearly all of the events are free.
Charles Crellin, Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort general manager said that planning for the first-ever event has been underway for about five months. He and others involved hope the event will become an annual festival and a folk music staple for the Central Coast.
“We thought the long weekend of the Martin Luther King holiday would be a really good time to present this first Central Coast Folk Festival. We hope it will become a signature from now on. We thought that this would be a perfect time to do it,” Crellin said.
A unique aspect of the festival is that the label “folk music” means many different things here. Crellin said that “Americana” is the term for what people will see this weekend, meaning traditional music rooted in American heritage.
“We’re doing folk, we’re doing bluegrass, we’re doing swing music and a little blues,” he said. “So it’s really a wide reaching definition of Americana music.”
Staying true to the theme, the events will have food that mirrors the tunes with a number of local restaurants offering heritage or Americana dinners and old-fashioned cocktails, “representing the food and wine of America.”
There will be an ample amount of arts and crafts on display, as well as a “folk and soak.” That’s right: hot tubs. Crellin said that after coming up with the aforementioned catchy line, he thought an evening relaxing in the tubs at Sycamore, listening to live music and consuming good food would make for a unique, enjoyable evening.
“I don’t think we had heard of something like this before,” Crellin said. “There is a story-telling night as well and there is a family-oriented folk fest event at the Apple Farm, so it sort of goes all over; there is an appeal to a lot of different age groups and a lot of different tastes.”
While planning the festival, Crellin said that he received all kinds of feedback from the community. “Everybody is excited about it because we haven’t ever done anything like this on the Central Coast before.” With food, art, wine and music, it would seem the festival has thought of everything.
Crellin described folk music as “often times acoustic, the songs of everyday life, politics and just having fun. With such a wide range definition, we can provide people on the Central Coast with a wide range of music and people will be able to experience this all during in a four-day festival.”
Jack Poulis, Cal Poly marketing graduate and lead vocals/ acoustic guitar for three man band, Jack and the Lion, said the Folk Festival “sounds like a really cool gathering of people and bands.” He is excited for Jack and the Lion to be able to showcase a new sort of sound at the event.
“We feel like we don’t fit into one genre,” he said. “But we definitely have our folky side, country side and rock side. We like to call ourselves front porch rock.”
Poulis wasn’t sure exactly when he started being “folky” but said that with his “kind of country style singing” paired with his acoustic guitar, “somehow folk came out.”
“I think it is kind of a mature type of music and I feel like it is starting to become more mainstream,” Poulis said. “A lot of the acoustic stuff, like Bright Eyes, is becoming more known, and I think that is because it is a mature type of music; college students can really grasp it and enjoy it.”
Jack and the Lion will be performing during sunset at The Cliffs.
“It will be beautiful out, and really help with the vibe. It’s an ideal place to play,” Poulis said.
Casey Moss, events coordinator for the festival, said that because there are so many events to choose from throughout the four days, there should be something to interest everyone.
“Since there is more than just folk, there is a band that will appeal to every person’s taste,” she said. “Most events are free and they are all around the county so it is easy to find a good location. I’d say it is a cheap, fun way to go and spend one of your nights. Get a group of friends together to see a band you’ve never seen before and eat some good food.”
The festival’s features will be going on simultaneously throughout the weekend, so be sure to check out the schedule of events. Visit www.centralcoastfolkfestival.com for more information.