Folk Festival Branches Out
The Summer Solstice Folk Music, Dance & Storytelling Festival, an annual traditional music event in Los Angeles County since 1981, will branch into Orange County this year with a satellite concert of Celtic music in Aliso Viejo.
“It’s a way to reach out to a new community,” said Elaine Weissman, executive director of the California Traditional Music Society, the event’s promoter. She hopes the June 21 evening concert at Coast Hills Community Church will kick off an annual Orange County presence for the Summer Solstice festival.
Twelve Irish, Scottish and French Canadian musicians and dancers make up the bill, including banjo player Mick Moloney, accordionist John Williams, fiddler Seamus Connolly and singer-guitarist Tony Cuffe. The program also features traditional step dancing. The performers will play at the main festival as well, June 21-23 at Soka University in Calabasas.
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The Aliso Viejo show will not offer the lessons and workshops that have been a hallmark of the Summer Solstice festival.
“I want to crawl before I run,” Weissman said, “but eventually [offering instructional workshops] is the direction we’re going to go in” if the festival catches on in Orange County.
Soka University, which is developing a campus in Aliso Viejo, is sponsoring the local show, along with the Mission Viejo Co. and the Aliso Viejo Community Foundation. Tickets cost $8 to $10, $5 for seniors and ages 18 and under. Information: (818) 342-7664 or e-mail ctms@lafn.org
