Middletown Folk Festival

The Middletown, New Jersey, Folk Festival, which ran from 1968-1984, was a folk music and crafts event which attempted to show to local audiences the variety and breadth of American folk music. It was conceived and produced by Marlene and Dick Levine, who after attending the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island and the Fox Hollow Folk Festival in Petersburgh, New York, wanted to have a festival in their own community using local facilities.

The festival consisted of a series of folk music concerts, workshops, a children’s activity area and numerous crafts exhibits. In the first year 700 people attended, with over 33,000 attending over the 17 year period.

The Middletown Recreation Department provided support and services including the use of a municipal park with a mobile stage with the local Kiwanis and Junior Woman‘s club organizations handling the food concession.

Although the format for the festival remained the same, with its incorporation as a non-profit organization in 1971 funds were available from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for The Arts in Washington, D.C. which enabled the Levines to blend local talent with professional performers.

The festival attracted media interest and had been televised on New Jersey Public Broadcasting and the National Educational Network. (1972-1973). Two recordings, produced in the earliest years, have been contributed to the Archive of Folksong at the Library of Congress and local libraries.

As written in the 1969 festival program (June 28, 1969):

“What we are trying to do here today is to show you some of the tremendously varied kinds of folk music that people play for their own enjoyment right here in the Middletown area. You will be hearing everything from traditional ballads to Irish fiddling, from bagpipes to bluegrass, from Nashville country music to blues and gospel, and European lute to Indian sitar. During the afternoon you will have the opportunity of examining crafts as exhibited by local craftsmen. Among the displays will be one on dulcimer making, one on the construction of the “clogging man”, as well as marionette making, quilting, rug braiding and special children’s crafts. In short, our emphasis is on people doing things themselves, providing their own entertainment rather than sitting back and having someone else provide it for them. We hope more and more of you will realize that what we do ourselves is the most fun of all, and surely the most fulfilling.”

The festival was a community event with a true community flavor and family appeal with most of the attendees from the local area.