One of America’s most popular bluegrass festivals is coming to the Boston area
The New England Festy will be held at Prowse Farm this fall.
Prowse Farm, once home to the popular Life Is Good Festival, hasn’t hosted live music since 2013, leaving a void for the many fans who were drawn to the Canton location every fall. This summer, not only is the farm once again hosting its own festival in July’s Festival at the Farm, but a popular Virginia bluegrass event will also be branching out for a two-day concert at the site in September.
The Festy Experience, an event celebrating bluegrass, folk, and all other types of acoustic-minded music, has been operating for the past seven years in Virginia. Curated by Berklee College of Music alumni The Infamous Stringdusters, The Festy has grown so much in recent years that it is not only moving to a larger venue in Virginia this summer, but is launching this second event in Canton.
The New England Festy will take place September 17 and 18, which is coincidentally the same weekend that the Life Is Good Festival typically took place. Also curated by The Infamous Stringdusters, the event will feature performances from Greensky Bluegrass, The Wood Brothers, Josh Ritter, who will have a special bluegrass-influenced trio, and many more.
2016 New England Festy initial lineup:
The Infamous Stringdusters
Greensky Bluegrass
Josh Ritter
The Wood Brothers
Justin Townes Earle
David Wax Museum
Fruition
Lau
Session Americana
Sierra Hull
Whiskey Shivers
Old Salt Union
And more to be announced
James MacDonald, head of Boston’s Six Chair Productions, the company that is co-producing the event along with Virginia-based The Artist Farm, thinks that this is an opportunity to bring a specific genre of music—and a laid-back vibe—as close to Boston as possible.
“It’s not strictly bluegrass, but it’s a little bit of jamgrass, a little bit of folk, a bit bluesy,” MacDonald said. “Boston has never really had its own proper festival that has a bluegrass feel to it. You have to drive a few hours in either direction to go to a Fresh Grass or a Newport Folk [Festival], or other events like that, but Boston is a city that’s hungry for some pickin’.”
The New England Festy will partner with Oskar Blues Brewery as its chief sponsor. Not only will the company be serving up its signature Dale’s Pale Ale and other beers, but the net proceeds from the event will benefit Can’d Aid, the brewery’s own foundation that supports various community and environmental efforts.
In addition to the music, MacDonald hopes that Festy New England can encompass much of the outdoorsy vibe that the flagship event has featured.
“The Festy is a brand built around an outdoorsy, active lifestyle. Think: hiking, climbing, green living.” Macdonald said. “At the Festy Experience in Virginia, they’ve been doing guided hikes and mountain biking tours alongside great workshops with art and nature, so we’re seeing what we can do to incorporate these kinds of activities into the [New England] event using the Blue Hills as a backdrop and a resource.”
Much like Festival at the Farm, The New England Festy isn’t just another way to experience live music, it’s a way to enjoy the detached festival feel while only being a few miles outside of Boston. Nested next to Blue Hills, Prowse Farm is an open grassy space located just off of 93, 95, Route 3, and Route 24.
While MacDonald and other organizers are still thinning out food details and other event logistics, early-bird two-day tickets are already available at the festival’s website for $65. Single-day tickets will be available in the coming weeks.
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