This coming weekend there are a few festivals scattered about the United States, and if you’re nearby you might want stop in check out some great music. Sing Out! provides an international listing of folk music festivals and camps, which can be found at https://www.singout.org/fests.html. But here’s a sampling of some upcoming events that are worth checking out if you can.

If you’re in the deep south between April 11th and the 14th, the Juke Joint Festival is an attraction enriched with history and culture. Located in Clarksdale, Mississippi, this small-town fair/music festival is a three-day celebration of the great delta blues artists, both past and present. The festival will host over 100 acts with some artists pushing 90! The website boasts, “This is the real-deal Mississippi blues festival that you’ve read about. It is like no other in the world.” For more information, please visit: http://www.jukejointfestival.com/index.php

“Known as the largest free festival in the South,” the French Quarter Festival resides directly in the heart of New Orleans. So if you’re in Southern Louisiana this weekend, and you want to experience the 30th anniversary of an incredible event, The French Quarter Festival is the place to go. Voted “Favorite Festival,” “Favorite Food Festival,” and “Favorite Event Open to the Public” by the locals, this is a concert you cannot miss. It hosts hundreds of acts in the three day span and is also home to the “World’s Largest Jazz Brunch.” For more details about this event, please visit: http://www.fqfi.org/about.html

If you’re looking for something a little more quaint and you’re in the Tampa Area of Florida, you should take a quick detour to Dade City for the Stringbreak Music Festival. Held annually at the scenic Sertoma Youth Ranch, this festival offers the option to camp onsite included in the 4 day pass for just $135! Stringbreak is the sister festival to the much larger Riverhawk festival, held annually in November. For more information about the event, please visit: http://www.lindentertainment.com/General_Pages/newhomepage.htm

To our Alaskan friends, you should check out the Alaska Folk Festival. Going on all this week, this free music festival is the oldest and largest festival of it’s kind in Alaska. It hosts over 80 acts each year. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit: http://www.akfolkfest.org/index.php#facts

— Jesse McHugh