If you were in Sisters this weekend, you might’ve heard those familiar guitar strums and passionate voices bursting into song.
The Sisters Folk Festival finally returned after COVID and smoke conditions canceled it last year.
The three-day festival boasted 29 artists across seven venues in Sisters.
Visitors could walk between the venues around town and grab some sustenance from food vendors while listening to their favorite artists.
Organizers and attendees alike were delighted with the weekend overall.
“Everything went so smoothly and it was just better than any of us expected,” festival board chair Terry Buchholz said. “The event-goers, all of the patrons just enjoyed themselves, the artists were so thankful to perform again.”
She said the next step will be taking an after-action report, where the board will figure out what they can improve upon next year.
However, Buchholz didn’t believe there would be many items on that list.
Mike Wallenfels of Sisters enjoyed his third time at the festival, and was moved by the life experience the artists poured into their craft.
“So many people here, what’s different is that they’re reflecting on what’s happened over the past year and a half, not being onstage,” he said. “So it’s like a theme with every artist, songs they’ve written, projects they’ve done, albums they’ve released, and what impact they had on them emotionally. It’s added a lot to what they’ve brought here to the festival.”
He said a couple of his favorite artists from the weekend were Eileen Ivers, a fiddler with Irish influences, and Emily Scott Robinson, a singer-songwriter.
Caprielle Lewis, also from Sisters, has lived in town for 16 years and has attended the festival every year it’s taken place since then.
“It’s not just Americana music, we have rock, and blues and funk,” she said. “And the way they organize it is the acoustic in the morning, and by late night we’re hopping up and down to Hogslop.”
Lewis also thanked the board members, and founders Jim Cornelius and Brad Tisdale for their dedication to getting the event off the ground each year.
