The Willamette Valley Folk Festival is not just about folk music, but the music of the folk in the community, said Amy Bowers, the heritage music coordinator for the UO Cultural Forum.
“The beauty is that we combined national artists with local artists; international and community artists are playing together,” Bowers said.
Bowers and co-coordinator Kurt Catlin spent the entire year organizing the event, which attracts almost 15,000 people over three days.
The Folk Fest, which runs today through Sunday, is an outdoor music event with seven stages. It is not only known for three days of eclectic folk music, but also for those who take advantage of the Eugene ordinance allowing public nudity.
“I love it when all of the crazy Eugeneans come out of the woodwork,” said senior George Pryor, who will volunteer at this year’s festival. “There are even old guys doing the hula hoop. You’ve got a great eclectic group of people.”
Besides nude dancing and hula hoops, there will be a crafts area for children and music and dance workshops in the Fir and Ben Linder Rooms of the EMU. KLCC will broadcast the festival’s main stage acts from the University campus beginning at noon Friday and continuing through the weekend.

Music
The headliners this year include Tony Coleman on on Friday, The Mystical Arts of Tibet and The Sugar Beets on Saturday and Toshi Reagon on Sunday.
Friday, the music begins at noon and ends at 10 p.m. On both Saturday and Sunday, the music runs from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Coleman was B.B. King’s drummer for 10 years and has toured and worked with Etta James, James Brown and Ray Charles. The Mystical Arts is a group of Buddhist monks who perform traditional temple music. The Sugar Beets is a homegrown band who met in University residence halls and have been playing together since 1992. Reagon, who plays lead guitar, is the daughter of Sweet Honey in the Rock founder Bernice Johnson.
Organizers said that the monks are one of the most unique attractions this year. Bowers has two of the monks staying at her house, and she said they are wonderful houseguests.
“They are just great,” Bowers said. “They keep giggling and laughing.”
Other groups include the Deb Cleveland Band, the UO Gospel Ensemble, Babes With Axes and Hanuman, a folky funk band. University student Max Sassenfeld saw Hanuman at last summer’s Oregon Country Fair and at Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle and can’t wait to see them play on Friday evening.
“Hanuman rock the dome,”
he said.
Sassenfeld said that the group utilizes whale vertebrae, shell, bells and hand drums to create their unique percussion sound.
Other bands will play throughout the weekend at Main Stage on the East Lawn, the EMU Amphitheater, The Buzz and the Taylor and International Lounges
“With some of the music, you can sit on the lawn and relax, and other music will get you up and dancing,” Bowers said.

Workshops, children

and bicycles
On Saturday and Sunday there will be workshops on the Appalachian clawhammer banjo, hip-hop dance and West African dance in the EMU.
The children’s booth will be located in the craft vendor area behind the EMU on Saturday and Sunday. There will be finger-painting, mask making, bubble magic, jugglers and entertainers.
Bicycle valet parking is offered again this year by the Center for Appropriate Transport. CAT provides a guarded, friendly area to store your bike for a suggested $1 donation. The bicycle parking area will be on the lawn between the EMU and the Student Recreation Center.

Recycling
At last year’s festival, Campus Recycling threw away 2,540 pounds of trash and recycled 4,000 pounds of material. This year, Campus Recycling is moving closer to making the event waste-free by recycling, composting and offering reusable plastic plates and metal forks.
The program will serve as a model for other campus and community events, said Jonathan Borgida, the events coordinator for Campus Recycling.
“We’re taking it to the next level,” he said. “We’re definitely going to put the UO on the map.”
ASUO also helped the recycling effort by purchasing 3,500 metal forks and 4,000 plates for the event. There will be no deposit on the plates, but Borgida said he doesn’t think that they will have a problem with people stealing them.
A collection of 70 volunteers will shuttle plates to be cleaned and staff seven compost stations. There will be a total of 18 volunteers and Campus Recycling employees working all hours of the Folk Festival, Borgida said.
The event will not be zero-waste until no waste at all is generated. Borgida expects there will only be enough waste to half-fill the one Dumpster, which is half as small as the one used last year.