Central Ohio Folk Festival 2025, Headlined by Richard Shindell – 7pm May 3

Come on out to the Central Ohio Folk Festival!

If you are here JUST to reserve Sat. night inside-tent-seating for Headliner, Richard Shindell, just click on the GET TICKETS button above. We ask you to kindly donate separately for each ticket (we absorb fees). Otherwise – read on!

WHO WE ARE . . .

THE CENTRAL OHIO FOLK FESTIVAL is an annual two day family-friendly, free-will donation festival that occurs May 3 & 4, 2025. Over the two days it attracts upwards of 12,000 folks from Central Ohio and beyond. There are multiple stages featuring a refreshing variety of folk/roots/Americana performances. Daytime performing artists are regional, local, and even national.

Are you a music lover itching to catch some live roots music in a great outdoor setting? Are you a musician who wants tips how better to hone your craft? Do you love the interactive experiences of jamming with other musicians or just singing with others? Are you looking for something that the entire family will enjoy? You'll find it all here!

We offer 30+ music workshops (all levels/various instruments). We have five ongoing jam tents each with a particular focus: bluegrass, old-time, folk/folk-mix, pure song, and a tent for the very beginner. In addition to 3 performing stages, the festival features: music, storytelling, and crafts for kids; young adult offerings; a festival store; beer gardens (featuring local Nocterra craft beer); festival opening and close singing; and a drum circle each day. Food trucks on site or you can bring your own food. NOTE: you are not permitted to bring your own alcohol into the Metro Parks or the festival grounds.

The festival is produced by the Columbus Folk Music Society in cooperation with the Metro Parks and co-sponsored by WCBE 90.5FM. The festival is held in the Big Meadows area of Highbanks Metro Park.

ADDITIONAL INFO about the event at: www.columbusfolkmusicsociety.org/festival

SATURDAY NIGHT HEADLINER . . .

Originally from Long Island, New York, now residing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Richard Shindell is a writer whose songs paint pictures, tell stories, juxtapose ideas and images, inhabit characters, all the while vividly evoking entire worlds and expanding our sense of the world as well as just what it is a song can be.

Described as: Innovative, original and occasionally spiritual, Shindell’s songs weave tales that interchangeably champion the downtrodden, exalt the disaffected or wax empathetic to those lost to society’s fringes. From lighthearted ballads, to dirges and diatribes that skillfully skewer politics, prejudice, war and religion, to the comic point-of-view of a cow stuck in a barbed wire fence, he has a unique ability to morph into the soul of the many and varied personalities he casts as narrators in songs—veritable novellas framed in haunting acoustic melodies.

Over the years, he has worked with the likes of Joan Baez, Lucy Kaplansky, and Dar Williams. The Wall Street Journal has called him “a master of the subtle narrative.”

Take a listen: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UC498DVlEEVDDbyQUFdDN5XA

YOU CAN GET SATURDAY NIGHT INSIDE TENT SEATING RESERVATIONS to hear RICHARD SHINDELL by pre-donating for tickets via THIS LISTING. We encourage a $20 donation per seat. You can also count this as your donation for gaining access to all other festival events over the two days.

PLEASE NOTE: to keep things manageable, we ask you to donate separately for each INSIDE-tent-seat reservation. One benefit? We are absorbing the Eventbrite processing fee on your behalf! IF you are visiting this page and find inside seating is no longer available, know that lawn seating WILL always be available. You can also ask at the festival entrance to be put on a wait list for Sat. night, if additional inside seating becomes available.

Please do NOT buy Sat. night inside seating tickets from anyone offering them via postings on our Facebook page. These postings are often not legitimate.

If you DO NOT want to reserve inside tent seating for Richard Shindell AND you prefer to attend the festival during the day and pre-donate, click here: https://square.link/u/NTDn2n2b (No concert ticket reserves here).

Otherwise, just show up!

FESTIVAL ENTRY . . .

Our festival is a "free-will donation" event. All festival events are accessible by anyone entering the grounds, including the Saturday evening headliner concert and workshops. Saturday night Headliner Concert seating inside the Main Stage Tent is by pre-donation/reservation only.

We have donation tents at the entrance. Know that your generous $$ support makes all of this possible. For a donation of $20 or more, you’ll get a fun flexible flyer, a cookie and a sticker (while supplies last)!

Donations can be made at the festival entrance itself, at the "Donate" link above, or via this Eventbrite listing if you want inside seating for Sat. night. If you pre-donate $20 or more, bring your receipt to get your "free stuff".

WHAT DO FOLKS SAY ABOUT US? . . .

"It's been a joy exploring the festival . . . It's obvious that there's a true passion for artfulness in music. "

“Amazing quality of performers - not a single average act”

“What a wonderful family event! Thank you for helping keep folk music alive! The workshops were very informative and interactive.”

“Jam tent was awesome. Magical how various musicians just ‘walked up’ and started playing ! "

“Love it! Awesome way to introduce our kids to folk music.”