FREE FEST: Drum Boogie Festival in Woodstock on Saturday

Bang a gong…

The fourth biennial Drum Boogie Festival returns to Andy Lee Field on Rock City Road in Woodstock from 11am-8pm on Saturday (September 12). The rain date is Sunday (September 13).

The Drum Boogie Festival is a free, one-day, family-friendly, multi-cultural music festival that celebrates rhythm and diverse styles of music, dance and voice from all around the world. This year’s festival will bring together world-class performers and introduce the audience to an assortment of musical styles that feature percussion including jazz, rock,
classical, African, Balinese, reggae, steel pan and more.

And there’s more to Drum Boogie than just drumming; it’s song, dance, food and family fun. There will also be food trucks and fun children’s activities at the venue.

Hosting the festivities will be Ward Todd, President/CEO of the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce and former Morning Show host at Kingston’s WKNY-AM. Presented by the Woodstock Chimes Fund, this year’s Drum Boogie Festival will support Family of Woodstock’s Domestic Violence Program and will be staffed by Family volunteers. Festival-goers are urged to bring lawn chairs and blankets.

Here’s the schedule of world-class performers at Saturday’s 2015 Drum Boogie Festival:

11:15am: POOK (Percussion Orchestra of Kingston) & the Energy Dance Co.
Programs of the Center for Creative Education, a not-for-profit arts education organization based in midtown Kingston

11:45am: Great American Fife and Drum Band
One of the leading interpreters of innovative rudimental drumming

12:15pm: Gamelan Giri Mekar All-Stars with special guests
Performing on a collection of authentic Balinese instruments composed of gongs, metallophones, drums, cymbals and flutes with Balinese dancers

1pm: Aanadhha with Dibyarka Chatterjee
Creating a truly unique experience of Indian tabla drumming

1:50pm: Joe Locke
An institution in the world of jazz vibraphonists, Joe Locke has made a great name for himself (and his instrument) in the past few decades.

2:40pm: Cobu
Based in NYC, this group performs a unique mix of Japanese traditional Taiko Drum and American tap dance as a live-rhythm-performance.

3:30pm: Jack DeJohnette with Matt Garrison and Foday Musa Susa
With a career that’s spanned five decades, the NEA and Grammy Award-winner has established an unchallenged reputation as one of the greatest drummers in the history of modern jazz.

4:20pm: NEXUS
The “high priests of the percussion world” (according to The New York Times) deliver a stunningly virtuosic spectacle of sound and rhythm.

5:10pm: NYU Steel
Dedicated to exploring the art of Caribbean steel pans to the fullest, performing rare compositions and arrangements ranging in scope from Philip Glass to the Trinidadians who invented the art form

6pm: Mandara with Valerie Dee Naranjo
Performing the music of West and Southern Africa and the diaspora, and original works on instruments from many countries

6:50pm: The Big Takeover
A unique concoction of backgrounds and spirits creates a version of reggae that is fresh and vivid.

ADDITIONAL UPCOMING FESTIVALS FOR 2015:
Basilica SoundScape @ Basilica Hudson, Hudson, 9/11-13/15
Springfield Steampunk Festival @ various location, Springfield, Vermont, 9/11-13/15
Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival @ Jennings Landing, Albany, 9/12/15, FREE
Pearlpalooza @ North Pearl Street, Albany, 9/12/15, FREE
Hispanic Heritage Celebration @ Empire State Plaza, Albany, 9/12/15, FREE
The Plaza at 50 Festival @ the Empire State Plaza, Albany, 9/16/15, FREE
FreshGrass @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, 9/18-20/15
LarkFest @ Lark Street, Albany, 9/19/15, FREE
Jazz at the Lake @ Shepard Park, Lake George, 9/19&20/15, FREE
American Music Festival for the Lake @ Wood Park, Lake George, 9/26-27/15
Bridge Jazz Festival @ Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (Troy) and Massry Center for the Arts (Albany, 2/26&27/16