<\/a>Photos by Jonson Kuhn \/ Juneau Empire \n Ice Castles consisting of Jorge Leyva, Caleb McDermott, Grant Lathrop and Tristan Carter perform songs by Mac DeMarco and The Cure during Monday’s opening night of this year’s Alaska Folk Festival at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
The 48th Annual Alaska Folk Festival<\/a> returned to Juneau on Monday night at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center. Boruch-Comstock was one of 15 acts to take the stage.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t In previous years, the festival has taken place at Centennial Hall, but due to remodeling, the week of music is being split up between the JACC and Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s auditorium.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Seattle-based Molly Lewis “Mollylele” plays ballads on her ukulele for the first time on the Alaska Folk Festival Stage on Monday night at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Monday through Thursday the main stage performances will be held from 6:30-10 p.m. at the JACC. Friday, Saturday and Sundays performances will be at JDHS.. This year’s festival guest artist is Lone Piñon, a New Mexico string band, or “orquesta típica” whose music celebrates the integrity and diversity of its region’s cultural roots.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Andrew Heist has served as the president of the Alaska Folk Festival board for the last four years. He said each year has been different due to COVID-19, among other things. While the change in venue locations might not be as ideal due to space restrictions, Heist said that hasn’t stopped the community from coming out to engage in that “magical Folk Fest feeling” Juneau has come to be known for.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Tom Koester plays a solo set of original tunes for this year’s Alaska Folk Festival one day after turning 79-years-old. (Jonson Kuhn \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t “I think it’s going great, we’re making the best of the situation,” Heist said. “We love Centennial Hall and we knew this renovation was coming, so we’re making the best of it. It’s a little bit smaller than our usual home so there might be times when it might be tough to find a seat, but other than that we’re still here giving people a place to perform on stage and have this amazing community event.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Heist added that through all of the different years of the virtual festival or when dances were put on hold, the community still showed up and was “immensely supportive.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Nora Fortier plays violin under the name Nora and Friends for Monday night’s opening of the 48th Annual Alaska Folk Festival. Nora was joined on stage by Laurie Clough, Wendy Byrnes, Natalie Fortier, Sandy Fortier and Luke Fortier. (Jonson Kuhn \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t “In a way we never went away, but it’s still so good to be back together and having everybody have this spring ritual of seeing all of their friends and supporting this community music, it’s amazing, it’s wonderful to be back,” Heist said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t For Seattle-based musician Molly Lewis, who performed with her ukulele under the name Mollylele, this year wasn’t a matter of returning, but rather experiencing for the first time. Lewis is an active musician who regularly performs all over the country, however, she said Monday night marked her first time she had been on a stage since the pandemic.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “The musical community here in Juneau, my friends have talked it up to the moon and it does not disappoint,” Lewis said. “There’s just a density to this festival that I’ve never seen anywhere else. You get so many cool and different kinds of acts in one evening and so after being trapped inside for three years, it’s just really invigorating.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/a><\/a>