Oly Old Time Festival kicks up its heels this weekend for the first time in three years

The Oly Old Time Festival is back, kicking off Friday, Feb. 17. It’s been three long years since the last one, which happened just before the pandemic put a stop to things.

The three-day festival, produced by Arbutus Folk School, offers not only concerts but also square dances, workshops, a jam for kids and an open-mic-style cabaret. All of that close-quarters interaction — in February, when moving events outdoors isn’t a great option — still felt risky last year, said organizer Emily Teachout.

“People are excited that we’re having a festival this year,” Teachout said. “They’re itching to get out and dance with each other and see music together. It has become an annual tradition for a lot of people.”

“Old-time music festivals open up a wonderful space for connection and participation,” said fiddler and banjo player Joseph Decosimo, who’s headlining the Olympia festival with collaborators Luke Richardson and Cleek Schrey. “Concerts can be magical, but there’s something delicious and unhurried about settling in for a weekend-long gathering with concerts, jams, dances and hanging out.”

Decosimo of Durham, North Carolina, has been hanging out in the old-time scene since he stumbled onto traditional music as a teen growing up near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Along the way, he’s studied masters of the tradition, earned a doctorate in ethnomusicology, and won numerous awards for his playing.

In January, he played at the Anchorage Folk Festival.

“It was one of the first festivals I’ve done since the pandemic,” he said. “It reminded me of how much I missed the immersive nature of a festival — the square dance, the late-night jam, the jokes, the new friends, the old friends.”

Indeed, the trio will be fully immersed over the weekend, playing at the Friday concert and Saturday square dance and teaching free workshops.

The other artists playing in Friday’s concert — Elizabeth LaPrelle & Brian Dolphin and Jesse Milnes & Emily Miller — will also play and teach throughout the weekend.

The featured artists all have deep roots in southern Appalachian music, Teachout said.

“It’s a really driving, danceable dialect of old-time music,” she said. “It’s also a wonderful blend of so many geographic and cultural influences: Scottish, Irish, English, Native American and African, to name a few,” she said.

Among the other highlights of the weekend are a honky-tonk dance featuring Portland’s The Waysiders, an all-ages square dance and plenty of opportunities for young people to play and learn. Those 12 and younger are admitted free.

The Olympia old-time scene stands out for the way young people are included and encouraged, said Decosimo, who played here with Richardson in 2019,

“Emily and crew hosted a wonderful evening of music that was basically a big party disguised as a house show,” Decosimo said. “Luke and I basked in the generosity and kindness of this scene. We’re excited to return.”

The performers aren’t the only ones who travel to attend the festival, Teachout said. Many attendees travel to be here.

“We have people coming from Alaska, California, Utah, Idaho,” she said. “We estimate we bring 500 to 600 people into town every year for this.”

In 2020 and again this year, the festival received city lodging-tax funding. “I think the city likes it because it brings people into town in the middle of winter when they wouldn’t otherwise be coming,” Teachout said.

Oly Old Time Festival

• What: The 13th weekend of concerts, dances, jams and workshops celebrates and spreads the word about the joys of old-time music.
• When: Friday, Feb. 17 through Sunday, Feb. 19
• Where: South Bay Grange, 3918 Sleater Kinney Road NE, Olympia, with some workshops at Arbutus Folk School, 600 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia
• Tickets: $20 each for Friday night’s concert and Saturday night’s dance; free for ages 12 and younger; free for workshops and Sunday’s cabaret
• More information: 360-350-0187, http://olyoldtime.weebly.com

Schedule

Friday

• Noon-4:30 p.m. Workshops
• 5-7 p.m. Lounge acts The Friendship Quilt and Kelly & Sally
• 7-10 p.m. Concert with Elizabeth LaPrelle & Brian Dolphin; Jesse Milnes & Emily Miller; Joseph Decosimo, Cleek Schrey & Luke Richardson
• 10-11:30 p.m. Square dance with Devils Club Darlin’s

Saturday

• Noon-1:30 p.m. Kids’ jam
• Noon-4:30 p.m. Workshops
• 1:30-3 p.m. All-ages dance with Shnoll Family String Band
• 5-7 p.m. Lounge acts Paul Silveria and The Horsenecks
• 7-10 p.m. Square dance with Joseph Decosimo & Friends
• 10-11:30 p.m. Honky-tonk dance with The Waysiders

Sunday

• 1-3 p.m. Cabaret, with all invited to perform