Top: Santos de Palo Bottom: Attendees at the Folk Fest. Abiba Biao Photos.
As the band Santos de Palo graced the stage, a steady beat from the maracas drifted through the grass. Guitar entered, followed by gentle notes from the saxophone. Lead singer Rick Reyes flashed a smile at the crowd, then turned his attention back to his guitar and launched into the lyrics of 20th-century Puerto Rican musician Rafael Hernández.
Duermen en mi jardín/las blancas azucenas, los nardos y las rosas, he sang. Mi alma muy triste y pesarosa/a las flores quiere ocultar su amargo dolor.
Concert attendees, park goers, and spectators, took out their lawn chairs and soaked in the melodies (and an afternoon rainstorm) last Saturday at the 31st annual CT Folk Fest & Green Expo. The Folk Fest featured acts such as Inner Groove, Tom Rush, and Leyla McCalla and had over 30 vendors, according to CT Folk Board President AG Barry (read more about evening performances from the New Haven Independent here).
That focus on a more sonically, racially and ethnically diverse lineup dovetails with recent work the festival has been doing to become more equitable and reflective of New Haven. Read more about that here, here, and here.
Top: Lisa Spetrini, board chair at EcoWorks. Bottom: Clark Fisher, holding up his newly bought necklace and log carrier from Ecoworks.
With sustainability in mind, several climate-conscious brands, pop-up shops and small businesses like EcoWorks were in attendance, providing crafts for kids and selling goods made from sustainable materials. Founded in 2014 by Lisa Spetrini and waste management professional Sherill Baldwin, EcoWorks specializes in reusing and saving materials that would go into landfills for art and creative projects.
“In Connecticut, our trash, the majority of it gets incinerated,” said Spetrini, board chair for EcoWorks, Inc. “The more you could save out of the waste stream, the cleaner your air will be.”
“My favorite part of my involvement with EcoWorks is really getting the creative inspiration from others,” she added. “I like to see the lights go off behind their [someone’s] eyes, when they get inspired by a material.”
The stand at EcoWorks caught the eye of Clark Fisher. An annual event attendee, Fisher had no excuse to not come out this year, and didn’t regret it. He walked away with a log carrier to store his logs at home and a necklace made from a Mr. Softy Pin, the perfect gift for his mother-in-law.
“It’s very laid back and it’s something to do with the kids,” he said. “They often have nice music and crafts.”
Cyanotype photographer Xiaomin Hu.
In another booth, cyanotype photographer Xiaomin Hu displayed floral images against a deep blue background.
Contrary to the name, cyanotype photography doesn’t involve a camera; it instead refers to a technique of laying objects on paper coated with a solution of iron salts. The paper is then left out in UV light for a duration of time before being washed off with water. The result leaves monotone white and cyan blue images, outlining the imprint of the object.
White areas on the paper indicate the lack of exposure to sunlight in that spot, where the areas in blue denote UV exposure. The hue of blue also signifies the amount of sunlight exposure it had; the darker the blue, the longer the paper was exposed to sunlight.
Hu, an East Rock resident, has been creating cyanotypes for two years. Prior to this, she was a Chinese watercolor painter, but that all changed when she was first introduced to cyanotypes.
“I saw this cyanotype style [and it looked] very nice, so I just learned how to do it,” she said. “I love it. I love this color. I love blue and the white.”
Hospitality Director Jackie Ribalaigua, Fest Director Nicole Heriot-Mikula, CT Folk Board President AG Barry, Emcee Steve Winters, and volunteer Carole Weisberg.
For Barry, who moved to New Haven from Tennessee in 2017, the Folk Fest has been a “really big part of my time in New Haven.”Almost a decade ago, they discovered the Edgerton Park festival when they stumbled upon it with their dog. Before long, they were involved in volunteering and board leadership. They became the president of the board in February.
“I didn't know a single person here, and I stumbled on the Folk Fest and felt really at home, especially [since] I grew up in bluegrass and folk music, and didn't know if I would find it here in Connecticut,” they said.
It’s part of what has kept them here, they added. Barry moved to the Northeast for a fellowship with New Haven Farms, now part of Gather New Haven. It wasn’t long before they embraced the Elm City as their new home.
They now work a remote job that allows them to stay in New Haven. The Folk Fest has helped them build community.
“Music brings so many people together, and I think we do a good job of having a lot of different types of music to connect people, and to make everyone feel like we have music for them because that's what folk music is. It's connecting people. It's storytelling.”