What started as an “excuse” to throw a party for the local community has become one of the marquee events of the year that also personifies the spirit of said community — and that’s not just bluster.

The Warren Folks Fest, ready to rock 30 Cutler St. on Saturday, Aug. 17 from 1-7 p.m. and now in its 8th iteration, was recently named “Best Local Festival” by the most recent rankings in “Rhode Island Monthly” and had recently been named “Best Locally Produced Festival” by “Motif Magazine”.

From its humble beginnings, consisting of one stage featuring eight performers (all playing for free), one food vendor, a couple of beer stands and a smattering of arts vendors, the annual summer celebration has exploded in popularity since.

This year the festival will feature two stages, nine bands, 33 art vendors, booths featuring work from five nonprofits, over six food vendors, and five adult beverage vendors, including their biggest and longest-tenured sponsor, Narragansett Beer.

According to Sally Turner, Executive Director of The Collaborative, the Warren-based nonprofit that supports all array of artistic endeavors in the region, there was a sense of joyous inertia palpable from the very first festival that always hinted towards its continued success.

“It’s hard to tell how many people joined in for the first Folks Fest. Folks were coming and going the whole day through. Perhaps a few hundred. But it had a vibe, and people were happy to be together celebrating with each other,” she said. “Ultimately that vibe turned into a buzz, and it’s just grown almost exponentially year after year. It’s been amazing to watch how a little community party has turned into what’s now considered a ‘must attend’ event for the folks of Warren and beyond.”

For Turner — who is in charge of the festival for the first year following the departure of long-time director and Collaborative co-founder Uriah Donnelly — while the support from the local community hasn’t been surprising, it has been essential to its growth.

“It was like the folks of Warren came out to help show off the creative side of their little town,” she said. “Although I can’t really say that it’s been surprising to see how popular it’s become. I really believe this has happened because of the tremendous community support and public will that Folks Fest has garnered over these years.”

For the community, because of the community
With a family-friendly atmosphere (dogs are always welcome), plenty of food and drink options, and an entire day of free, public entertainment, arts booths and activities, it isn’t hard to see what brings people to Cutler to celebrate.

But the work to bring that all together requires a high level of community collaboration, which Turner points out as an integral key to its success.

“For years, Narragansett beer has been donating 100% of sales proceeds to The Collaborative. A generous grant from our RI Representatives Jason Knight and June Speakman, along with a new sponsor, Superior Comfort in Bristol, is ensuring we can pay our musicians and sound engineer a fair wage,” she said. “Along with these supporters everyone else is a Warren Business or affiliate; Blount Boats, Navigant Credit Union, Twigg’s Automotive, Malik’s Liquors, Staton’s Landscaping, and Johnson’s Roadside Farm Market. And we couldn’t even begin to pull of this significant festival together without the in-kind (donated) support of 30 Cutler Mills and East Bay Printing and Copying, both of whom have supported us from the beginning. There are too many others to count, but I must include 75orLess Music and Diamond Cutz Barber Shop for volunteering to book and manage the music.”

Then there are the volunteers who help with things like designing that year’s logo, t-shirts and posters, create stage banners, bring in food vendors, lend gear and a helping hand to set up on the day of and help welcome people, sell beverage tickets, and clean up trash.

“I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am to have so much support from so many who deeply care about this event,” Turner said. “Leading up to August 17th has been a lot of work. However, as we get closer, I am realizing that Warren Folks Fest has a life of its own, with everything falling into place, and everyone pretty much knowing what to do. And we couldn’t do it without them.”

What to look forward to this year
While we will list the full lineup of musicians and vendors to expect in next week’s edition leading into the festival, Turner did tease a couple of new things to expect, including new stage visuals, a roaming crowd performance by a master magician and mentalist, Nathan Shaw, and a craft tent for kids.

Turner said that it has been important to always use the Collaborative’s mission of supporting all things artistic as the guiding principle for the Folks Festival — and that mission has also been pivotal to its continuing draw throughout the years.

“Warren Folks Fest stays true to its roots. It started as a free party for the community, and it will always be a free party for the community,” she said. “We come together to celebrate local creatives including musicians, poets, artists and food and beverage makers. We have fun alongside the individuals and families who join us. We welcome people to revel in all that our collective home of Warren has to offer.”

“Folks Fest offers a safe space to celebrate the creative force that makes Warren so special,” she continued. “During Folks Fest, we are all Warren, one community.”

For more information on The Collaborative, and Folks Fest, visit www.TheCollaborative02885.org.