The 40th annual Tucson Folk Festival is back downtown this weekend, with eager community members flocking to Jácome Plaza to celebrate Americana and folk music traditions.

The festival kicked off Friday night at Jácome Plaza with the Stefan George Memorial Songwriting Competition and evening headliner, Fox and Bones.

With more than 150 acts and 450 musicians performing across six stages in three days, this is the biggest festival to date, said organizer Matt Rolland, board president of Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association, the nonprofit that puts on the Tucson Folk Festival.

“We are trying to elevate the quality of the production, give a better experience for performers, the audience and Tucson community,” he said.

From national headliners to local artists, the music and fun runs from noon to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.

“It’s an amazing musical event,” said volunteer Steven Brent.

A legacy panel Sunday morning will bring together more than a dozen of the festival's founders to talk about the origins of the festival and share stories about its 40 years.

Twenty years ago, local cartoonist David Fitzsimmons was commissioned to produce the festival’s signature artwork, and he’s back again this year to create some new community art.

“It’s fun to bring back the festival artists,” Rolland said.

The festival’s young artist showcase, sponsored by the Rio Nuevo District, will take place at the Wildflower Stage, giving young musicians the opportunity to perform on a professional stage.

One of the festival's goals and points of pride, according to Rolland, is to foster the next generation of performers and to provide them with their first opportunity to play on a real stage with sound production.

The Young Artist Showcase will feature more than 20 acts this year, including Jam Pak, a youth Blues ‘N’ Grass Neighborhood Band from Phoenix, the stage’s opening act on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Desert Museum Family Band will also play at the Young Artist Showcase on Saturday, performing their songs about nature and the Sonoran Desert, and children’s musician Bruce Phillips will perform Sunday.

The stage is a great way to cultivate the future of the festival, Rolland said, speaking from the experience of someone who made his first appearance years ago on the very same stage.

The festival also offers workshops and song circles, giving attendees a chance to get in on the action.

With topics ranging from Irish fiddle to fingerstyle guitar to singing, the workshops offer participants free, interactive education. During the song circles, new performers and musicians are invited to share their work.

“It’s a mix of everything you see at the festival,” Rolland said. “It’s just a really relaxed, welcoming environment, where anyone can come and share a song.”

The Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association works hard to keep the festival free, but it’s a challenge every year.

“It’s a very important goal for us,” Rolland said.

Festival volunteer Susan Waites appreciates organizers’ commitment to keep the festival a free event.

“I think it’s one of the premier events in Tucson because it’s one of the very few free folk festivals,” she said.

The festival partners with contractors and other nonprofits to support their efforts, but it relies on volunteers like Waites to keep it up and running.

“It’s basically an entirely volunteer-driven operation,” Rolland said, adding that people come from all over the Southwest to help, and sometimes even farther. This year, two volunteers traveled all the way from France to assist.

The festival will close Sunday night with a 40th anniversary social dance at the North Church Stage and a cumbia dance party at the main stage, hosted by Sergio Mendoza of Orkesta Mendoza.

Rolland said that bringing people together and giving independent artists an audience is at the heart of the festival.

“We like to make music as accessible as possible,” Rolland said. “We love seeing the interactions that happen at the festival, the different community groups coming together. There are different people from all walks of life, connecting on the shared love of music.”

Gracie Kayko is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist.

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