This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
The Future Arts Foundation is bringing Winter Folk; a 12 day, 40 band music and photography showcase to Longmont. The showcases and concerts are February 7 through March 1, 2020. All the events will be at The St Vrain at 635 3rd Ave in downtown Longmont. Winter Folk is Friday thru Sunday for four consecutive weekends.
The Future Arts Foundation is a nonprofit organization that hosts cultural events with a purpose. Proceeds from these events provide Colorado schools with instruments and allow the organization to host free youth arts workshops for the children of Colorado, teachers, first responders, and military members. While bringing the arts to life through concert settings The Future Arts Foundation supplies dozens of schools each year with the musical instruments and art supplies they cannot afford to purchase themselves.
The Winter Folk music lineup is diverse with nationally recognized performers Brett Dennen and Mason Jennings. Also, the lineup includes regional favorites The Gasoline Lollipops and Bonnie and the Clydes. With this kind of festival showcase, there is always a surprise performer that you may not have seen before. Local musicians that are making a name for themselves are included with the more recognizable performers. A lineup of this kind builds community and brings focus to both the brilliant musicians that live in Longmont and the musicians that will travel to be here to perform at Winter Folk.
Travis Albright who is the organizer for Winter Folk and The Future Arts Foundation said, "I love Longmont and know that towns other than Denver, Boulder, and Ft. Collins deserve quality live music events. We first started bringing events to Longmont last year with the Strings & Stories concert series at the Firehouse Art Center. Not only were locals excited to have this type of quality music in Longmont , but we saw people fly in from around the country for these concerts. We knew we had to do something bigger because the town was obviously starving for something like this. A number of the Winter Folk evenings are already close to selling out, so I think we were right!"
The Winter Folk photography showcase will fit in well at The St Vrain. The St Vrain is a beautiful brick building with the music venue on the top floor. The photographers displaying work are Arthur Trevino, Josh Elioseff, Molly McCormick, Charla Harvey, Lisa Siciliano and Nolan Dutton. The photographers will be set up on the first floor. There will be eight photographers showing their work over the month, two each weekend.
All the performances will be at The St Vrain. There will be three to four bands or solo musicians per evening. The upstairs venue has a capacity of around 400 people per day. Winter Folk is an intimate venue with musicians that have played everywhere from The Fox Theater to Red Rocks. It is also family friendly. Events end at 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 9:30 p.m. on Sundays.
The arts are growing in Longmont and a lineup of this kind and scope really shows that we can expect more events like this in the future. Downtown Longmont with its extensive parking and venues makes this one more reason to stay right here to see national acts and regional performers. General admission tickets will be standing room only and VIP tickets will offer seating in the front few rows of the venue. Winter Folk does not anticipate selling single-day tickets. Only weekend and month-long passes will be available. See The Future Arts Foundation website for more information.
