The second annual Riverside Folk Festival will bring the Great Whiskey Project to Cantigny Park in Wheaton on June 11 in what is being hailed as the quintessential Great American Picnic. All are invited to come spread a blanket and enjoy this foot-stomping (and very family friendly) folk-rock band.
On the festival grounds, attendees will also hear traditional American folk songs, Irish tunes, and join in a good old-fashioned Hootenanny. (Musicians are welcome to bring instruments to play along.)
Chicago Gaelic Games (www.chicagoirishsports.com) will teach the basics of Irish football with mini-camps throughout the day. And fishing enthusiasts will be excited to meet Johnny Wilkins (www.chicagofishingschool.com) a member of the U.S. National Fishing Team and three-time competitor in the World Fishing Championships. Wilkins, who once caught more than 2,000 fish in a 24-hour period in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record, advocates fishing in the style of George Washington-a rod with a line and hook; no fancy reel or bait. At the Festival, Wilkins will offer fishing tips and hands-on demos.
Additionally, kids will have fun making crafts, singing songs, and hearing stories in the Children’s Tent. Vendors will be on hand selling food and non-alcoholic beverages, but picnic baskets are also welcome.
The Riverside Center for Education, which is sponsoring the event, provides an imaginative and adventurous curriculum that offers boys the skills and knowledge they need to become men of character. Rather than sitting in desks or staring at screens, students are challenged by practical opportunities to write, film, record and perform.
Folk music is an integral part of the Riverside experience. The stories of heroes, of heartaches, of home and hearth, provide a common heritage of song through which children may approach life with joy and a sense of the brotherhood of man.
The Riverside Folk Festival (www.rside.org/folkfest) will take place on June 11th from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., rain or shine. The ticket price is $5 per person or $20 per family. (There is also a $10.00 parking fee, paid separately upon entering the grounds of Cantigny.) Proceeds from the event will go toward student scholarships for the Riverside.
About the Great Whiskey Project: The band formed in 2010 when a soulful singer/songwriter and an explosive Irish fiddler teamed up with other Chicago musicians to fuse foot-stomping rhythms with poignant melodies. The musicians who comprise the Great Whiskey Project have performed together and with other musical groups at dozens of their favorite Chicago venues, including the Abbey Pub, the House of Blues, Molly Malone’s, Sam Maguire’s, and the Irish American Heritage Center. (www.greatwhiskeyproject.com)
Community Contributor Monta Hernon, Public Relations, Riverside Center for Education
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