Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival returns to Pittsboro next week
PITTSBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance returns May 7-10, bringing four days of live music, arts and community programming to Chatham County.
"We are celebrating 22 years of this spring Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival out in Pittsboro," said Russ Friedell, talent buyer and marketing director for the GrassRoots series of festivals. "Four days, four stages... we have 75 bands performing from countries all over the world, regions all over the world."
This year's lineup features artists from Jamaica, Yemen, Puerto Rico and Cuba, along with performers from across the United States, including Asheville, Nashville, New Orleans, Miami and Denver, as well as acts from the Triangle.
Donna the Buffalo, the co-founding band behind the GrassRoots festival series, will host the event. Rising Appalachia, a sister duo from Asheville, is also among this year's performers.
Along with music, the festival offers a wide variety of activities for all ages.
"We have an amazing kids tent area that operates during daylight hours throughout the duration of the festival and has its own schedule of activities," Friedell said. "Children 12 and under are admitted free of charge... with a ticket-holding parent or guardian."
The event also includes food trucks, yoga sessions, wellness programming, craft vendors and a Saturday Happiness Parade led by Paperhand Puppet Intervention, which will also stage a theatrical performance during the festival.
Organizers say there will be one major change this year: no campfires will be allowed because of statewide burn restrictions.
"Bonfires and fires in general are not allowed ... pretty much the entire state of North Carolina is under a burn ban," Friedell said.
Despite that change, Friedell said the festival continues to offer the kind of experience that keeps people coming back.
"We have done multiple surveys ... and what has come back consistently ... is that I believe the statistic is 98% of people who come ... have not only a positive experience, but it lingers into their day-to-day lives post-festival," he said.
Tickets, schedules and more information are available at shakorihillsgrassroots.org.
