Winterfolk

The 38th annual event will take place on Saturday, February 20th, 2027 at 7PM, at Alberta Rose Theatre. Now in its 35th year, Winterfolk is the annual Portland Folk Festival benefiting Transition Projects. Winterfolk 34 will be held Saturday, February 5th 2023 at the Alberta Rose Theatre. Transitions Project is a legacy organization in Portland Oregon working to eliminate homelessness. For over 53 years they have delivered lifesaving and life-changing to Portland's most vulnerable citizens. www.tprojects.org

The History of Winterfolk

In January of 1988, Mary Barclay in Portland, Oregon decided to fly her favorite folksinger, Tom May, out to Portland from Omaha, Nebraska for her significant birthday party at the Horse Brass Pub, where she had first heard and met him. Tom asked some of his Portland musical pals, such as Terry Prohaska, to join him. A collection was taken up for the homeless of Portland, and Winterfolk was born. The next few years Tom came out every winter and again ask fellow musicians to join him at the event, which would take place at the Horse Brass Pub until 1994 when it moved to the Aladdin Theatre, where it resided- until it moved to the beautiful Alberta Rose Theatre in 2016. The legendary Don Younger, (RIP) owner of the Horse Brass, and subsequently JoEllen Piluso, have been ongoing patrons and sponsors of Winterfolk since its beginnings. Tom May has worked at blending both the Northwest and National folk communities in making "Winterfolk" the success it has been. Over the years, Tom Paxton, Anne Hills, Michael Johnson and Peter Yarrow, to name just a few, have graced the Aladdin Stage to play for Winterfolk. Other notable regional artists, such as Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, Dan Crary, Kevin Burke, and dozens of others, have joined Tom May on stage to make a difference through song. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised over the past 34 years,

Scott Docherty from Redhare came aboard in 2012, to help Tom with promotion and other administration tasks of what has become Portland, Oregon's largest annual Folk Music event.