Following a successful 2024 festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival triumphantly returns to Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township for its 62nd event from August 15th – 17th, 2025 with a special Thursday Night Concert Just for Campers on August 14th. With a lineup that pays homage to the festival’s rich heritage while embracing new and diverse talent, attendees can expect a weekend filled with stellar performances and cherished memories for all. This year’s lineup features internationally touring and Philadelphia-based artists. The 2025 festival performers include John Gorka, SONiA disappear fear, Solas, Elijah Wald, David Jacobs-Strain and Bob Beach, American Patchwork Quartet, Jesse Terry, John Flynn, Kuf Knotz & Christine Elise, Brittany Ann Tranbaugh, Vanessa Collier, The April Fools: David Buskin, Robin Batteau, Christine Lavin, John Forster, and Carla Ulbrich, and Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley. More performers will be announced this spring.
The Philadelphia Folk Festival fosters music discovery in a safe and family friendly setting with camping, food trucks, a variety of vendors and activities for all ages. Educational workshops and Dulcimer Grove (specifically designed for the youngest attendees of the festival) will offer enrichment and more enjoyment of the weekend.
Local author Elijah Wald will offer a presentation on his book, Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night that Split the Sixties, the source material for the Timothee Chalamet film, A Complete Unknown, and will be performing lesser-known Dylan songs from that era. He is also the author of The Mayor of MacDougal Street, which the Cohen Brothers used to create Inside Llewyn Davis.
“Since the Dylan film is attracting attention to that period, I have recently begun touring a concert program of songs and stories from his early period in Greenwich Village,” says Wald. “I’ll be performing some early Dylan songs, both obscure and familiar, alongside songs he learned and adapted from people like Dave Van Ronk, Eric Von Schmidt, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Paul Clayton, and Jean Ritchie. I knew most of those people, played with some of them, and give a sense of Dylan's world before he hit the big time.”
On August 1, 2025, in partnership with Rising Sun Presents, the Philadelphia Folksong Society will preview the 62nd Philadelphia Folk Festival with an evening at Bryn Mawr Twilight Concert Series featuring performances from Larry Ahearn, Lili Anel, Cloudbelly, and Max Davey. All four performers are scheduled to play at this year’s festival and the event will offer a sneak peek of what to expect later this summer.
The Philadelphia Folk Festival’s legacy includes a multi-generational audience who make returning to the farm each summer an annual event. Longtime gate volunteer Julie Leinhauser says, I have been coming to Fest since I was three months old, and my family has been involved for decades -- my main gate family and my campsite family, who are truly my closest friends and a part of my family. My dad hasn’t missed a festival in the last 50 years. During the dark pandemic days my fest family and friends from the Folk Fest became even more like family. We celebrated, laughed, and cried together. We kept each other going. I am so grateful for the people and good times this festival has brought into my life.”
For more information about the Philadelphia Folk Festival, including ticket sales, lineup announcements, and volunteer opportunities, please visit: folkfest.org
The Philadelphia Folk Festival is a community of people coming together to share music and make memories between generations making a magical experience. Every year strangers become friends, and lifelong friendships are forged to create the Philadelphia Folk Festival family, where everyone is welcome!
Discounted Early Bird tickets for the Philadelphia Folk Festival can be purchased through April 14th and are available via https://folkfest.org/tickets/
