The 29th Sisters Folk Festival will feature more than 30 diverse musical groups from all over the world. Organizers say the lineup redefines what folk music really means.
“‘Folk’ can be a polarizing word,” Communication Manager Erin Pihl says. “I think people still tend to think of the genre of folk music as old-timey… At SFF we try to break that mold and showcase artists that represents the full array of roots music.”
The event, Sept. 25-27, will be held in the heart of Sisters at seven venues including Sisters Art Works, Village Green, Oliver Lemon’s, The Belfry, Sisters Depot, Open Door and Sisters Saloon. The smallest venue has a capacity of 200, while the largest is 1,400.
Some of the highlights this year include Grammy Award winning Tommy Emmanuel from Australia who’s been dubbed one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world. Inspired by his mentor Chet Atkins, he set out as a solo artist in 1979 touring with greats like Eric Clapton and John Denver. Singer/songwriter Brandy Clark made the New York Times list of “30 Greatest American Songwriters.” Ozomatli will bring Latin, hip-hop and funk to Sisters. Performing for more than 30 years, the band continues creating new music that celebrates unity, resilience and joy. Thunderstorm Artis is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who was a finalist on Season 18 of “The Voice” and has played alongside Jack Johnson, Train and The Zac Brown Band. The Paperboys have been called the Los Lobos of Canada. Forming in 1992, the sextet has performed at an estimated 4,300 shows. Scottish Fish is a Boston-based Celtic quintet with high energy. Gadan is a strings-only mashup of traditional Irish music and bluegrass. They started when three Italian folk musicians joined forces with Enda Scahill, a tenor banjo legend and added Eric Long, a songwriter/clawhammer banjo player from Pennsylvania.
“Our lineup always features a diverse group of artists celebrating music that can be defined as folk — of the people, for the people — but it never fits into one box or one genre. In a single year we’ll have everything from rockabilly blues and protest anthems to country-folk and Neo-soul to Irish trad and West African rock music,” Pihl says.
Sisters Folk Festival
Sept 25-27
Multiple Venues, Sisters
Sistersfolkfest.org
Weekend Pass $245 / Single tickets on sale in July
This article appears in the Source May 21, 2026.
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