HONESDALE, PA — Have you heard that Honesdale Borough is home to an annual music and arts festival? The festival is called Roots & Rhythm and will take place this year in downtown Honesdale on Saturday, June 15 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. The price of admission—free!

Roots & Rhythm was created with the intent to provide a free music and arts festival to the community. With music genres spanning from blues, rock, Americana, roots and jazz, there is a little something for everyone to enjoy. In addition to the performances, this family friendly event will have games for kids and entertainment for all ages, including Artist Row (aka the Roots Marketplace, a wonderful world of art, crafts and cool stuff you might want to take home with you), workshops, tunes and tales for children, and much more. There will also be food vendors on site all throughout the day.

In order to get more information about this event, I spoke with Kelsey Samson, a member of the Roots and Rhythm board. Roots & Rhythm started in 2006, Samson said, and except for the summers during the pandemic of ‘20 and ‘21, they have never missed a year of performing. “A fun fact about this year is that one of our performers, Steve Guyger, was actually one of our performers our very first year as well,” she said.

Additionally, Samson noted that Roots and Rhythm is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. She explained that all of the money made at the festival (through merchandise, donations, etc.) goes back into the event to help it grow. “It costs about $70,000 a year to put on Roots & Rhythm. That [money] goes to the bands, stages, production and logistics, so if we have any money left over, it would just go right into the next year. It helps our fundraising efforts and helps keep everything free and local.” 

We dug deeper into the festival’s background. “John Rockland, who is still on our board, and Gayle Tucker, who passed away recently—they were the two people who sort of came together with this idea to have a free music festival in Honesdale… honestly, just to have something free in the community that is surrounding music and bluegrass.”

“My father,” she continued, “who was also part of the original team, was another spearhead who just loved to have something free in the community and just have something to do. Sometimes there’s not a lot to do in Honesdale, and this is just a community event that they were all really passionate about.”

Samson mentioned that another reason this event is so important is the idea of bringing in outside, non-local artists so that community members can get a taste of different kinds of performers. It also brings additional business to Honesdale and the surrounding areas. 

When asked to speak about the performers this year, Samson was excited. “This year is the first year we are actually going to have five mainstage performers. Usually we only have four,” she explained. The internationally acclaimed Slam Allen is the headliner this year; and he will be playing at 8 p.m. The other mainstage performers are Paul Rishell and Annie Raines (12:30 p.m.), Roberta Faceplant (2:15 p.m.), Steve Guyger (4 p.m.), and Deke Dickerson and the Whippersnappers (5:45 p.m.).

In addition to the five mainstage performers, there will also be three Downtown bands. These bands are more local and will be performing from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on the day of the festival. They will be set up near Scarfalloto’s Diner at 920 Main St. and then at the pavilion at 640 Main St., across from Here and Now Brewery. To end the night, Deke Dickerson and the Whippersnappers will also be the closers this year, playing from 10 p.m. to midnight at Here & Now Brewing Company, 645 Main St. 

Lastly, it is extremely important to give credit to all the people who make this wonderful event possible. The Roots & Rhythm board members, along with countless other volunteers, donate their time and energy year-round to ensure the festival will run smoothly and be enjoyable for everyone who attends.

“We have a couple of board members throughout the county and throughout Honesdale,” Samson said.  Jamie Stunkard is the board chair, while Samson herself is the vice chair. Ruth Dunn is the treasurer and the secretary title belongs to Sue Bold Kohrs. Additionally, John Rocklin is in charge of music, Sandy DeGroat is responsible for band merchandise, Amanda DeMasi oversees Artist Row/the Marketplace, while Brain Fulp manages logistics. 

The passion these people have surrounding this event is nothing short of extraordinary.  

However, it is important to note that this festival would not be possible without the sponsors, donors and community members who attend the festival. So if you love free music and community events, come check out Roots and Rhythm!