Kate Wolf Festival Recreates Feel-Good Vibes of Bygone Era

Starting Friday, local music lovers will celebrate the freewheeling spirit of the ‘70s with three days of tunes, workshops and community at the 18th Annual Kate Wolf Festival in Laytonville.

 Wolf was a popular folk singer from Sebastopol who died in 1986 from leukemia. She was friends with Wavy Gravy and other members of the Hog Farm commune, and became the first musician inducted into the NAIRD Independent Music Hall of Fame.

This year the festival features world-renown musicians including Taj Mahal, Angelique Kidjo, John Prine, Marianne Faithfull and Madeleine Peyroux as well as local groups The Brothers Comatose and Poor Man’s Whiskey. Tickets are $90 for a single day or $215 for the entire weekend.

The festival is all about the music, but is known for its low-key atmosphere that’s hard to find on the increasingly corporatized musical festival circuit.

“When you cross the gates, you feel like you’ve left your day-to-day reality,” says Cloud Moss, an organizer. “The event has a very neighborly feel to it and it transports you back a little.”

The festival will be held at Black Oak Ranch, owned by The Hog Farm, considered  the largest commune in the world and which is very much in existence.

Before her untimely passing, Wolf helped organize the Sonoma County Folk Festival and other local events, and is considered to have helped pave the way for female folk and country singers like Emmylou Harris.

Tickets for the Kate Wolf Festival are still available. Want to know more? Visit the festival’s website at katewolfmusicfestival.com